Monument record MDO4143 - Fishpond, Kington Magna

The remains of a Medieval fish-pond of about 1 acre extent, fed by a spring, are situated on the hill slope just below church at Kington Magna. (The spring is shown on OS 6" 1962 at ST76762312). <1>

According to a former rector (a), an excavation was carried out on the fish-pond in 1847, but no particulars of this have been found. Field walking has produced a considerable quantity of Medieval pottery in the area. <2>

The site of the pond is visible on air photographs as a rectangular feature at ST 76762311. (Position confirmed by Mrs Ross). <3>

An emergency excavation by Shaftesbury and District Arch. Group near Kington Magna church, on a site producing early Medieval pottery, revealed a split-level fish-pond. <4>

The ponds were surveyed by DIHE Poole during the 1980's and shown to overlay a bank which may be contemporary with the Medieval settlement to the South, (ST 72 SE 39). The size of the pond indicates that it was a commercial enterprise either deliberately displacing a settlement area or using a deserted site to advantage. <5>

The fishpond is tentatively dated to the C15th. <6>

<1> Ross, M S, 1979, Letter from Mrs M S Ross, Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group dated 6 November 1979 (Verbal communication). SDO17627.

<2> Ross, M S, 1979, Telephone conversation Mrs M S Ross, Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group (Verbal communication). SDO17628.

<3> Royal Air Force, 17-JAN-1947, RAF/CPE/UK/1924 4237-8 (Aerial Photograph). SDO17629.

<4> Council for British Archaeology, 1980, Council for British Archaeology Group 12: Newsletter, 1980, 12 (Serial). SWX9310.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1985, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1984, 123 (Serial). SDO84.

‘FISHPONDS AT KINGTON MAGNA. Earthwork remains of two fishponds, apparently superimposed on DMV earthworks, west of the parish church at Kington Magna (ST 767231) were surveyed by students of the Dorset Institute of Higher Education. A full account and plan will appear in Ross, forthcoming. A plan has also been deposited in the archaeological archive of the County Planning Office.’

<6> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1986, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1985, 29, 40-1 (Serial). SDO85.

‘FISHPOND (ST 76752314) see Figures 4 and 5.

A spring-fed pond, now being partially re-used ornamentally and about 0.5 ha in extent, seems to have been unequally divided into two parts (Alan Hunt, personal communication). Seemingly rectangular in shape originally, it forms a deep depression some 4.5m below the west end of the church. Part of the west bank survives and in 1980 was 3.2 m high, running north-south and sloping at an angle of 45° (Dunse and Ross 1980, p 17). RAF air photographs interpreted by the Ordnance Survey (personal communication) described the site as a ‘disturbed area’ with a ‘well-defined platform’. There is no documentary reference, nor is it shown on any map. From hearsay, it was said that an excavation was carried out in 1847 round the bank, with many trenches dug across the field, but nothing was found (Rev. H. B. Snelgrove, personal communication), nor is there any record. According to a former resident, the south-west corner formed a right-angle with a bank comparable to that described on the west, dropping steeply to the trackway, itself bounded on its lower side by a slight bank and hedge (John Highnam, personal communication), later to be levelled prior to ploughing. Running roughly north-south, a low scarp within the lower part of the pond would seem to be an earlier boundary, or perhaps the edge of a house platform, and if contemporary with the settlement, would date the pond as a later construction (Alan Hunt, personal communication).

Breaches in the external and internal banks may have been sluices, possibly original, although within living memory, it held some water. The size of the pond is such that it was obviously a commercial enterprise (ibid), either deliberately displacing a settlement area or using a deserted site to advantage.’

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202436 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 11:23AM