Soudley Ponds

Soudley Ponds

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Soudley Ponds
Location within Gloucestershire
Location	Gloucestershire
Grid reference	SO662112
Coordinates	51.79887°N 2.49082°W / 51.79887; -2.49082
Interest	Biological
Area	7.04 hectare
Notification	1984
Natural England website

Lying close to the village of Soudley in the Forest of Dean, west Gloucestershire, Soudley Ponds (grid reference SO662112), also known as Sutton Ponds, comprise four linked man-made ponds lined in succession through the narrow Sutton Valley, and surrounded by stands of tall Douglas Fir. It is a 7.04-hectare (17.4-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1984.^[1][2]

The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).^[3]

History

The ponds were formerly believed to have been dug in the 18th century to provide water to the furnaces in the Soudley Valley and at the nearby Camp Mill. In fact these would have been fed from the Soudley Brook, and from the Tilting Mill Pool, now in the grounds of the Dean Heritage Centre. It has also been erroneously claimed that they were dug long before this as fish ponds by the monks of the nearby Flaxley Abbey.

However, Atkinson’s map of 1847 shows only a stream running through the valley where the ponds now lie, and it is nowadays assumed that were created as fish ponds after the land’s 1836 purchase by mine-owner William Crawshay. In 1899 the ponds, along with the rest of the Abbotswood Estate, were sold by Robert Crawshay, William’s son, to the Crown, from which point they were leased for fishing to private individuals. It was only in 1906 that the ponds became as they are today, following the work of Arthur Morgan, who had that year acquired the lease of the ponds, and after whom the lowest of the ponds is still locally known as Morgan’s Pool.

Ownership and usage

Now in the care of Forestry England, and declared an SSSI by Natural England, the ponds are one of the Forest of Dean’s most delightful spots, particularly in Spring and in Autumn, and are still used by the anglers of the Soudley Fishing Consortium. All of the land within Soudley Ponds SSSI is owned by the Forestry Commission^[4].

Publications

• The Sutton Ponds, A K Pope, Cindeford, 1986.

References

1. Natural England information on Soudley Ponds SSSI - citation, map and unit details
2. Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Sites of Special Scientific Interest
3. Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Key Wildlife Sites
4. "Mapping the habitats of England's ten largest institutional landowners". Who owns England?. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2024.

SSSI Source

• Natural England SSSI information on the citation
• Natural England SSSI information on the Soudley Pond unit

External links

Media related to Soudley Ponds at Wikimedia Commons

• Photographs of Soudley Ponds and surrounding area on geograph
• Soudley Ponds Forestry England Website
• Natural England (SSSI information)
• Forestry England