Monument record 15288 - Site of ponds/fishponds, west of Chester Road, Malpas

<1> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

A series of three ponds are depicted to the west of Chester Road on the 1831 Tithe Map for Malpas. Names of adjacent fields reflect the presence of the ponds:-
Plot 878, owner Marquis of Cholmondeley, occupier Elizabeth Evans, water pit croft, pasture
Plot 879, owner Thomas Tyrwhitt Drake, occupier Peter Barlow, part of water pit croft, pasture
Plot 880, owner Thomas Nickson Esq, occupier Samuel Davies, water field croft.
The ponds are also visible on OS historic mapping. (See sources 2-4)

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

<5> L-P Archaeology, 2021, Archaeological Evaluation Report for Chester Road, Malpas, R4511 (Client Report). SCH9043.

An archaeological evaluation, carried out in March 2021, on land to the west of Chester Road, Malpas, prior to development of 57 dwellings with associated infrastructure, recorded remains of the southern ponds depicted on nineteenth century mapping.

Trench 1 was excavated to a depth of 1.8m and contained material likely associated with the ponds/fishponds. The lower peat and silt deposits, which are likely a remnant of organic pond material/silting, were sealed by silty organic clay and sand containing 19th century building materials. In trench 2, just to the west of trench 1, a sharp drop in natural, likely to be cut feature, corresponds with the edge of the fishponds. The backfill demonstrates that the ponds were being intentionally backfilled and levelled in around the 19th century, as evident in the 19th and early 20th century OS maps.