Holywell Fish Ponds

It was a frosty morning, and I'm reliably told that there was a beautiful red sky at dawn, but I'm afraid I slept through it. By the time I'd fed the cats and dogs and had my breakfast the sun was well up, though the frost was lingering in shady corners. As I didn't feel like scraping the car, Rosie and I walked through the grounds of Thorpe Hall to Holywell Fish Ponds.

This is the best remaining example of medieval fish ponds in the Peterborough area. The seven ponds used to form part of the estate of Thorpe Hall and provided the lord and his family with a constant supply of fresh fish. Inside a small grotto in the corner of the site there is a natural spring that feeds the first pond then the water flows from one pond to another around the site.

During the 19th century the grotto and spring formed part of a distillery, the water being used to produce peppermint water, a remedy for ailments such as diarrhoea. Traces of this distillery were located on the site in 1975. I would have liked to photograph the Holy Well where the spring rises, but it's in a very shaded corner and is now protected by a rather ugly iron gate, However, I've attached a description below, taken from a 1913 book by Thompson, wonderfully titled 'Peculiarities of water and wells', which gives an impression of what it is like.

'There is a beautiful spot, called Holywell, in the neighbourhood of Peterborough, well known, and much frequented by the inhabitants. The road lies through a pleasant park, where stands an ancient edifice belonging to the Fitzwilliam family, called Thorpe Hall... After passing the front of this mansion, turn to the left, by the stables and outer buildings will lead, through a white gate, to a small green field from whence this picturesque little spot is seen, with its ivy clad walls, and its dark cypress and yew trees, casting their gloomy shadows around. Passing some broken steps which form the entrance, a shady path conducts to a modern niche, supported by two pilasters, over a slab pavement to a stone basin about six feet in depth and thirty in circumference. This is constantly supplied with clear water, running from the mouth of a subterraneous passage which connects Holywell with the cathedral of Peterborough. An artificial mound of earth is thrown up above this cavity, which is covered with creepers, ground-ivy and a few wild flowers.

Contiguous to the basin are some small fish ponds, partially shaded by beautiful trees; and the green rushes which grow at their bank form undisturbed retreat in which the moor-hen builds her solitary nest. A little further on is a piece of an old pillar, which is gracefully overhung with a wreath of ivy... An old wall surrounding Holywell on two sides, in which traces of windows and doorways are still discernible, is the last feature we shall mention.'