Monument record 0415800000 - C600M SE OF MAINSHILL FARM

Dimensions - Width 52m, Length 56m.
Plan Form - Square.
Depressed central area surrounded by bank, ditch & outer bank which extends NW from NW corner (B1).
No visble inlet from the river - would probably have been at SW corner (B1).
Seasonally waterfilled, moated fishpond (B3).
Perhaps the fishpond in Bulls Water Mead mentioned in 1623 with the fishing (B4).
Earthworks surveyed (B5).

A medieval and/or post medieval fishpond is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in a field immediately adjacent the N facing bank of the River Thame about 590 metres SE from Mainshill Farm and centred at SP 75078 12412, a slightly rectangular ditch about 7 metres wide has a linear WSW facing side 47 metres long, a curving SSE facing side about 44 metres long, a linear ENE facing side about 44 metres long and a linear NNW facing side about 46 metres long. It encloses an internal area about 32 x 35 metres. Around the interior of the ditch is an earthwork bank that varies between 7 and 8 metres wide. On the outside of the rectangular ditch, earthwork banks 5-7 metres wide flank the WSW, NNW and ENE, but not the SSE side facing the river. From the NW corner, a curving ditch about 3 metres wide extends W for about 67 metres. On aerial photographs taken in 2023 and recent remote sensing data, the earthworks remain visible (6-10).



(SP 751124) Moat like feature visible on RAF Aps but probably modern. The sides of the island are about 130ft long. The moat though silted up and now shallow, is wide and was probably fed by the River Tame (B11 and B12).
SP 75101240. This is a moated fishpond. Seasonally waterfilled it is situated in flat pasture adjacent to the River Tame into which it discharges. It has overall dimensions of 56.0m east-west and 52.0m north-south, the arms attaining a maximum depth of 0.7m with a maximum width of 12.0m. The island is level with the surrounding area
and holds a central breeding pond of maximum depth 0.4m. A centralisedsluice joins the breeding pond to the external water. A field drainage inlet is visible at the north-east corner. Surveyed at 1:2500 on photostat (B13).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.