Historic pond

After clearing an investigative path through the scrub in February 2024, it was revealed that there is a pond in the west of the Site, along the boundary of the top field. The pond was unknown to the previous landowner and was observed by the Got Greens Team on OS online maps.

Historically ponds on farmland were an important resource, used to water livestock and crops. These man-made ponds were known as dew ponds, sometimes called cloud ponds or mist ponds. They were created in the 18th and 19th centuries and for almost 200 years, farmers relied on these ponds to provide water for farm animals, so the ponds were regularly maintained as an essential part of the farm (YWT, 2023).

However, in the 20th century, farming practices changed. Importantly, farms could for the first time have water piped directly to them. Farmers started to use more machinery, and stopped keeping as many animals. All of this meant that over time, the need for dew ponds decreased and many were lost over time.

Conservative estimates of pond loss suggest that almost 50% of farm ponds have been lost in the UK in the last 50 years, leading to a loss of diversity and abundance of invertebrates, animals and plants (WWT, 2023).

The pond on site is currently full of dead organic matter with no aquatic vegetation growing. The pond is surrounded by dense scrub (hawthorn and bramble), preventing light from getting to the pond. We plan to begin clearing the pond in the autumn after the bird nesting season ends, by removing much of the scrub and clearing out the sludge at the bottom of the pond. We will try to reshape the pond in the hopes of helping it to retain water through the spring and summer months.


Reference List:

WWT (2023) Restoring lost farmland ponds. Accessed 8/3/24: https://www.wwt.org.uk/our-work/projects/restoring-lost-farmland-ponds/

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (2023) Restoring and managing dew ponds. Accessed 8/3/24: https://www.ywt.org.uk/wolds-dew-ponds/restoration