Information for record number MWA816:
Fishpond to S of Ascote Hill

Summary A large fishpond, used for the breeding and storage of fish, which dates to the Medieval/Post Medieval period. The site is now dry, and grassed, but survives as an earthwork. It is situated 300m south of Ascote Hill, Chapel Ascote.
What Is It?  
Type: Fishpond
Period: Medieval - Post-Medieval (1066 AD - 1750 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Chapel Ascote
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 41 56
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 Some fishpond systems include pools of enormous size, notably Chapel Ascote.
2 The field is known as pool Meadow and is now dry and used for pasture, but the remains of a bank delineating a pond of enormous size are clearly visible. In 1768 it was described as being formerly all a large pool.
4 Map of 1768.
5 pool Meadow and a pool marked 'millpond' are marked on a plan of Chapel Ascote.
6 Plan of the large pond complex at Chapel Ascote.
7 A pair of Medieval or Post Medieval ponds and a possible fish tank are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs taken in 1946, though they appear to have been levelled on aerial photographs taken in 1970. This site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Warwickshire and Cotswolds HLS Target Areas National Mapping Programme.
8 Lidar imagery implies that this was one long pond (see HER polygon). It also shows a slight dam at the western end and a large preserved dam at the eastern end. The area of the monument on the HER was aletered to reflect the NMP mapping and extra infromation from the lidar imagery.
 
Sources
Source No: 7
Source Type: Desk Top Study
Title: SE Warwickshire and Cotswolds NMP Project
Author/originator: Russell Priest
Date: 2010-2012
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Map
Title: William Palmer's Estate Map
Author/originator:
Date: 1768
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Plan
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: Fig 6
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Plan
Title: Chapel Ascote
Author/originator: Usher, H.
Date: 1973
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Serial
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator:
Date: 1974
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: TBAS vol 86
Author/originator: Bond C J
Date: 1974
Page Number: 97
Volume/Sheet: 86
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: PJA
Date: 1979
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 1234
   
Source No: 8
Source Type: Verbal communication
Title: Pers. Comm.
Author/originator: B Gethin
Date: 2013 onwards
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
technique Earthwork Earthworks can take the form of banks, ditches and mounds. They are usually created for a specific purpose. A bank, for example, might be the remains of a boundary between two or more fields. Some earthworks may be all that remains of a collapsed building, for example, the grassed-over remains of building foundations.

In the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky than during the other seasons, earthworks have larger shadows. From the air, archaeologists are able to see the patterns of the earthworks more easily. Earthworks can sometimes be confusing when viewed at ground level, but from above, the general plan is much clearer.

Archaeologists often carry out an aerial survey or an earthwork survey to help them understand the lumps and bumps they can see on the ground.
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technique Aerial Photograph Aerial photographs are taken during an aerial survey, which involves looking at the ground from above. It is usually easier to see cropmarks and earthworks when they are viewed from above. Aerial photographs help archaeologists to record what they see and to identify new sites. There are two kinds of aerial photographs; oblique and vertical. back
period Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
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period Post Medieval About 1540 AD to 1750 AD (the 16th century AD to the 18th century AD)

The Post Medieval period comes after the medieval period and before the Imperial period.

This period covers the second half of the reign of the Tudors (1485 – 1603), the reign of the Stuarts (1603 – 1702) and the beginning of the reign of the Hannoverians (1714 – 1836).
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monument POOL * A small body of water, either natural or artificial. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument FISHPOND * A pond used for the rearing, breeding, sorting and storing of fish. back
monument POND * A body of still water often artificially formed for a specific purpose. Use specifc type where known. back
monument PASTURE * A field covered with herbage for the grazing of livestock. back
monument FIELD * An area of land, often enclosed, used for cultivation or the grazing of livestock. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument MEADOW * A piece of grassland, often near a river, permanently covered with grass which is mown for use as hay. back
monument FISH TANK * A small brick structure attached to a house for keeping fish prior to cooking. back
monument TARGET * Any structure or object, used for the purpose of practice shooting by aerial, seaborne or land mounted weapons. back
monument EARTHWORK * A bank or mound of earth used as a rampart or fortification. back
monument DAM * A barrier of concrete or earth, etc, built across a river to create a reservoir of water for domestic and/or industrial usage. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record