Day 60. Ponds

                              Patch Pool.

Ponds were an essential feature of the farming landscape. They provided drinking water for pastured livestock and also the working horses and oxen which cultivated the fields. They were typically large and often surrounded with willow trees, which thrive in wet areas and were an invaluable resource for making hurdles and other implements prior to the Industrial Revolution (see Day 58).

Ponds were also a common feature in many villages, and can often be considered contemporary with the village origins. Preston has no village  pond,  but Patch Pool, a large pond next to house numbers 1 & 2, is of considerable antiquity. The name is of uncertain meaning, but the element patch in some place names is of Anglo-Saxon origin. A road called Patchway and an area of the open field called Patch Pool Butts were found nearby.

 

A small post-enclosure pond in the Little Churchground.

Following the enclosure of Preston's open field (see Day 54), smaller ponds were dug in most of the new fields. Each needed a water supply for the now-enclosed livestock. Many of these gradually silted up following the installation of piped water, and others were filled in. Some are now being reinstated as an environmental initiative.