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Summary

Fishpond with the appearance of an ornamental canal

Monument Types

• FISHPOND (Historic: period uncertain - 410 AD to 1900 AD)
• ORNAMENTAL CANAL? (Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE: Probable Medieval Fishpond, Old Rectory, Therfield

Full description

'At the foot of the sloping garden, on the south side of the house, is an old fish pond' <1>. This is a pond at the south end of the garden of the Rectory [4129], which has medieval origins. The date of the pond is uncertain, but it is a large artificial structure 77m long and 14m wide, with rounded ends. There are many small ponds in the village, but this has the appearance of an early post-medieval ornamental canal, although it could also have been constructed as a fishpond. It might have been a fishpond for the 15th century parsonage, but its shape suggests it may have been part of a formal garden laid out when the parsonage was rebuilt in 1640-43. The 1766 map <3> implies a formal garden here.
It has retained its regular appearance <2>.

RCHM (England), 1911, Inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire, - p218 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9222.

Pevsner, N, 1953, Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, - p248 (Bibliographic reference). SHT8770.

<1> Page, W (ed.), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire vol.3, - p276 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2329.

<2> Cave-Penny, Helena (HCC) site report, 29.5.86 (Unpublished document). SHT4214.

<3> Dury & Andrews, 1766, A topographical map of Hartford-shire, from an actual survey… (Cartographic material). SHT3062.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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