Monument record 1299/5/3 - Former marl pits, Tatton

Series of former quarry pits recorded at Tatton Park, several of which survive as pond features. (1)

Within the increasingly enclosed and marginalised landscape were widespread attempts to improve yields. References to marling are commonplace in the leases. The parctice seems to have been seen as essential to improvement. Pits were dug and subsoil extracted and spread on the surface in an attempt to lower the acidity of the soil. The ration agreed in 1739 was five roods to the acre. The area between Norshaw and the walkmill is pockmarked with pits that were presumably dug for this purpose. Elsewhere they were dug into the edges of the valley of the stream or on the hedgelines: such were commonplace among the 'coppy' group of fields south of the Old Hall. Pits are scarce or absent however from areas thought to be old arable, much of which lie on sands and gravels. Marling was largely confined to the clayland, mossland and heathland. (2)

<1> Addison,C. and Conlon,R., 2002-2003, Rapid Survey Fieldwork Notes. Rapid Field Survey (Unpublished Document). SCH4982.

<2> Higham N.J., Aylett P,. Smith J.H., 2001, The Tatton Park Project, Part 3: The Post-Medieval Estate and Halls; Grandeur to Decline, p.90-91 (Article in Journal). SCH4938.