Monument record MDO41097 - Possible historic pond, Merley, Poole

A large scarped hollow on the west side of Merley Pond is visible on aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery. The feature is probably a former area of the pond, which was out of use by the late 19th century as it is not recorded on the OS 1st Edition map. A possible sub-square ditched enclosure is faintly visible at the south end of the hollow in 1951. This may be associated with a possible structure such as a boat house or bird hide, for example, but may alternatively be natural in origin. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

A large scarped hollow on the west side of Merley Pond is visible on aerial photographs and current Lidar imagery (1 and 2).

The feature is 78.4m long and 47m deep and semi-circular in form; its east side is open to the edge of the pond. Its northeast end may feature on the OS 1st Edition map as a short section of bank topped by trees but the majority of the hollow is not shown (3).
The feature is probably a former area of the pond, which was out of use by the late 19th century.

At the south end of the feature a possible sub-square ditched enclosure 13m by 12m is faintly visible on a 1951 aerial photograph (1). It is not certain whether this is associated with a possible structure or whether it is just part of the mottled surface of the former pond. If real it may be associated with a possible structure; suggestions might be a possible boathouse, or bird hide; the feature would presumably post-date the infilling of this pond area so would likely be mid to late 19th century to early 20th century in date.

The site is still fields on current Google Earth imagery. The scarped hollow is faintly visible as a cropmark in some years; the sub-square ditched enclosure is not visible. The features were digitally plotted by the Dorset Stour NMP project.

<1> Royal Air Force, 17-APR-51, RAF/58/629 V 5110-1 (Aerial Photograph). SDO15999.

<2> XX-XXX-2015, Environment Agency DTM Lidar 1m (Aerial Photograph). SDO15442.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1864, 1886, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch one (Map). SDO10239.

Record last edited

Jan 6 2020 11:32AM