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Fishpond in Water Spinney 600m south east of St Giles's Church Tattenhoe

A Scheduled Monument in Shenley Brook End, Milton Keynes

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.9926 / 51°59'33"N

Longitude: -0.7887 / 0°47'19"W

OS Eastings: 483264.466536

OS Northings: 233375.567866

OS Grid: SP832333

Mapcode National: GBR D0T.5D8

Mapcode Global: VHDTD.85WT

Entry Name: Fishpond in Water Spinney 600m SE of St Giles's Church Tattenhoe

Scheduled Date: 23 December 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007931

English Heritage Legacy ID: 19018

County: Milton Keynes

Civil Parish: Shenley Brook End

Built-Up Area: Milton Keynes

Traditional County: Buckinghamshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Buckinghamshire

Church of England Parish: Watling Valley, Milton Keynes

Church of England Diocese: Oxford

Details

The monument includes a large medieval fishpond situated in Water Spinney,
Tattenhoe. It consists of a substantial earthen dam which now forms the
northern boundary of Water Spinney, standing up to 1.5m high and extending
north-west to south-east for some 100m. The dam was designed to hold back the
waters of a small stream and so create a rectangular fishpond up to 350m long
and 100m wide, orientated south-west to north-east. The pond is probably
contemporary with the remains of the deserted medieval village of Tattenhoe
which formerly occupied much of the area to the north-west.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Fishponds consist of one or more artificially constructed pools of slow moving
fresh water for the purpose of managing stocks of various fresh water fish.
They can have a variety of forms and the type of pond-bay fishpond occurring
at Water Spinney, though common elsewhere in the country, is unusual in the
environs of Milton Keynes. It also occurs in association with the earthwork
remains of the deserted medieval village of Tattenhoe and as such, contributes
to a detailed picture of the medieval economy and land use in this area of the
Midlands.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Croft, R A , 'M.K. Arch Unit paper' in Tattenhoe Water Spinney, Medieval Fishpond And Dam, (1985)

Source: Historic England

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