Monument record TQ 67 SE 1324 - Upper pond (reservoir), Randall Manor

A wide depression discovered during field survey works in 2002, possibly indicating further fishpond earthworks relating to Randall's Manor (TQ 67 SE 22) [1]

Fish pond, Not visible on 1st or 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. Recorded during 2024 Kent Downs National Landscape Historic Ponds project.
Preservation:Pond on historic maps but not visible on current OS (ghost pond)
Pond shape:Irregular
Site type: Fish pond
Description: Pond can be seen on Lidar but not on mapCleared in trees
Recorded date: 09/09/2024 (2)

A hand auger survey was carried out at the site in 2024 by Archaeology South East to identify the deposit sequence and characterise the palaeoenvironment at the site. Two auger holes were drilled, one in the base of the pond and one in the bank. The auger drilled in the bank revealed a sequence of silty sand at up to 1.6m in depth below ground level, which was overlain by clayey silts and capped by a modern woodland surface. The auger drilled into the pond base identified an inorganic alluvial deposit at the base of the auger sample (up to 3.3m in depth), overlain by a number of layers of plant macrofossils, humified plant remains, and organic material. The sequence of deposits was capped by 0.20m of compacted organics, forming a wetland land surface.

Evidence from the survey led to the interpretation (3) that the bank of the pond was originally established as a natural feature which formed during the last glacial period. "The associated bank/ ridge/ rampart is likely to represent a relict permafrost ground-ice mound also known as a pingo or lithalsa" (from the report, 3). The bank at the Lower Pond (TQ 67 SE 1325) may also have formed from a relict permafrost ground-ice mound, although one much smaller in scale. Both banks were likely already present in the landscape before people began to artificially modify it, as Mesolithic alluvium was identified in the pond bases during auger sampling. The feature may have been artificially altered during the medieval period to create a formal pond or fish pond. (3)

<1> Oxford Archaeology, March 2002, Randall's Wood, Shorne, Kent: Walkover Survey (Unpublished document). SWX12853.

<2> Kent Downs AONB Unit, 2025, Historic Ponds Project dataset (Digital archive). SKE58454.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2025, A Geoarchaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Study on the Randall Manor Ponds, Shorne Woods Country Park: Final Report (Unpublished document). SKE58744.