Monument record 0034604000 - LILLINGSTONE HALL

Plan Form - RECTANGULAR
REMAINS OF A MOAT & FISHPOND DOUBTLESS MARK THE SITE OF THE OLD HALL, DEMOLISHED C.1788 (B1-2).
AN ELABORATE SERIES OF DRY FISHPONDS ARE THE ONLY COHERENT REMAINS OF A MANORIAL SETTLEMENT CENTRED AT NGR. FISHPONDS ARE ADJACENT TO FLOWING STREAM & SUPPLY CHANNEL FORMERLY FROM SP71123982-71203961 (B4).

Fishponds, waterchannels, a possible moated site of medieval/post medieval date are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and were mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located south of Lillingstone Hall, Lillingstone Lovell, and centred at SP 471222 239801. This is a complex area of ponds/ fishponds, water garden features, a possible moated site and water channels. The ponds are situated on a level area of land between areas of slightly higher ground and on soil that has slightly impeded drainage (Soilscape type 9 – lime rich loamy and clayey soils). In the north western corner are three possible ponds, subrectangular and trapezoidal in shape, later incorporated in to gardens at Lillingstone Hall, the northernmost is visible as orchard in 1946. The ponds are 62x22m, 62x35m (long side aligned approximately east-west) and 68x89m in size (long size is north-south) and are on the western side of a water channel. On the eastern side of the water channel are two subrectangular ponds, the northernmost is on the Ordnance Survey Epoch 1 map and is 63x18m in size and is shown as holding water on modern mapping. The pond immediately to the south is 66x18m and is clear as an earthwork on lidar visualisations; a short channel is visible from the south-east corner. The long side of these ponds is aligned north-south. The line of ponds continues to the south-east with a narrow pond, 75x19m, aligned approximately north-west to south-east. A sinuous channel exists to the west and runs around the outer (western) side of these ponds leading towards the watercourse at the south. This may be the unstraightened course of the stream and would have provided throughflow of water for the ponds. The next pond is parallel to the stream course and merges in to the moated site/water garden features, which is a parallel water channels around a subrectangular platform 40x20m in size. To the south east of this the channels continue towards a point where they could rejoin the watercourse. To the south of these channels is a further subrectangular pond 38x12m in size and to the north of the moated area are channels forming a subrectangular enclosure, approximately 110x110m with slightly curving sides picks up a channel which continues from a further area of fishponds to the north, closer to the church in the village of Lillingstone Lovell. Further straight drainage ditches and earthworks are visible which are possibly later and for drainage; the underlying geology is superficial deposits of Alluvium overlying Blisworth Limestone formation and the soils are lime rich, loamy, fertile soils with slightly impeded drainage. Modern land use and construction of farm buildings may have obscured some of the features but the majority of the area is under pasture and so the earthworks are preserved. This record contains description of other features recorded in MBC1136, MBC1137, MBC1138 and MBC1139. (14-20)