Monument record 15575 - Fish Pond and Plantation, Rainow

<1> Short, J and Short, P, 2022, Fishponds and Plantation, Rainow - Research Report (Unpublished Report). SCH9234.

A plantation adjacent to Cliff Lane between 2 fields on Knoll Nook Farm was shown on Bryant’s Map of Cheshire of 1831. This site was described as ‘Fish Pond and Plantation’ in the Macclesfield Courier of 28 November 1846 relating to the sale by auction of the One House estate. The site is identified as ‘Fish Pond and Wood’ on the Cheshire 1850 Tithe Map. The site is shown on subsequent OS Maps as two ponds, but knowledge of its original purpose has been lost. An archaeological survey confirms presence of 2 fish ponds separated by a dam with a screen of trees, most likely associated with the One House nearby (HER Number 4660) and constructed in the 17th or 18th centuries.

Description
Two ponds are separated by a 4.8 m wide earth dam faced with stone. The larger main pond measures 18.3 m by 14.3 m and used for stocking the fish. The smaller breeding pond measures 9.5 by 7.1 m. The 2 ponds are linked currently by a narrow channel through the dam. This channel was deepened in circa 2005 in order to reduce the water level. The smaller pond has been truncated by creation of a modern water channel, also in circa 2005, and no longer holds water. Earthworks are either side of the main pond, allowing men to trawl for fish. The main pond has a hard flat bottom lined with irregular stones. It is about 50 cm deep at the edge increasing to 1 m towards the middle, but would have been deeper before the channel was enlarged. Water flows into the main pond from saturated higher ground from a spring or old watercourse. The pond is heavily silted. Water from the main pond flows straight through the smaller pond and exits through a channel, which again has been enlarged, and then down a watercourse. A screen of trees surrounds the ponds. Dry-stone walls surround the site and there are remains of a gate directly opposite Knoll Nook Farm, a distance of 215 m across a wild-flower meadow.

Until 1938, Knoll Nook Farm (known in the past also as Marsh Rails, Higher Marsh, Marsh One House) was a tenanted property in the ownership of the One House. The latter was 100 m from the Farm along Green Lane (once Eddisbury Lane). The One House is documented in the Cheshire Historical records, HER Number 4660. This house was first recorded in 1166 when Richard de Davenport was created Master Forester of Macclesfield Forest and given a tenement, the “Anhus” of Rainow. The One House was owned by the Hulley family from circa 1490 to 1912. It was rebuilt in 1703 and demolished in 1939.

It is most likely that the purpose of the Fish Ponds was to provide fish to the One House, the local manor house. The condition of the walls and finding a sherd of Staffordshire slipware of circa 1700 suggest that the ponds were constructed in the 17th or 18th centuries.

<2> Middleton, Peter, 2022, Ponds of Cliff Lane, Rainow, Macclesfield Cheshire - Topographic Survey (Maps and Plans). SCH9233.

Topographic survey of the site of two ponds in Rainow

<3> Bryant, A., 1831, Map of the County Palatine of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH2114.

<4> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 339/ 1850 Rainow (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ9474, 1873 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<6> Ordnance Survey, 1896-98, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ9474, 1899 (Maps and Plans). SCH2472.

<7> Hulley, Ray, 2015, The History and Hulley families of The One House of Rainow near Macclesfield, Cheshire (Book). SCH8557.