Monument record 1763/2/1 - Ha-ha in Carden Park

<1> Liverpool University Field Archaeology Unit, 1991, Proposed Carden hall Golf Course - Draft Archaeological Impact Assessment, Site 25 (Client Report). SCH5395.

The Ha-ha is 350m long and presently divides the parkland and an arable field to the north from hay meadows to the south. The line of it is clearly shown on the 1839 Tithe Map (see 2) and it is likely to be an eighteenth century landscape feature. The unusual thing about this ha-ha is that it is not visible from the site of Carden Hall. Furthermore, the retaining wall is located on the southern side, which suggests that the viewer was located to the south. The retaining wall is constructed of sandstone blocks which, at the western end, have been laid directly onto the bedrock exposed by the excavation of the Ha-ha.

<2> Chester Archaeology, 1995, A Desk Based Archaeological Assessment of Carden Park, p.8 (Client Report). SCH4793.

The ha-ha was restored during construction of the golf course, and remains a notable feature in the landscape, especially when viewed from outside the Park.

<3> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 87/2, 1839 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

This map depicts a plot boundary which broadly corresponds to the Ha-ha, but is notably not as straight.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ4653, 1874 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

The Ha-ha is clearly depicted. A tree line in the parkland to the north and adjacent to the Ha-ha, may be the remains of the plot boundary depicted on the Tithe map (see 3).