The site of Holywell Fish Ponds in Longthorpe
is steeped in history and has the best remaining examples of
medieval fish ponds in the Peterborough area. The seven ponds
used to form part of the estate of Thorpe Hall and provided the
lord and his family with a constant supply of fresh fish.
Inside a small grotto in the corner of the site there is a natural
spring that feeds the first pond then the water flows from one pond
to another around the site. During the 19th
century the grotto and spring formed part of a distillery, the
water being used to produce peppermint water, a remedy for ailments
such as diarrhoea. Traces of this distillery were located on
the site in 1975.
The ponds are in several acres of grassland,
in one corner there is a wildflower meadow with native wildflowers
this will encourage more wildlife and provide a little more colour
to the site. The ponds are very popular with anglers at all
times of the year with some good-sized carp and tench
reported. The site is also home to many birds, a kingfisher
and heron can regularly be seen along with coots and
moorhens. Most of the ponds were cleaned out in 2007/08 as
they were getting very choked up with vegetation, fallen branches
and silt. The ponds are now greatly improved making them much
more attractive especially to the wildlife.
Access
By road from Longthorpe Green through to
Larklands, car parking is very limited. On foot take the
public footpath south of Thorpe Hall that runs parallel and north
of the Longthorpe Parkway or take the path from Thorpe Wood Nature
Reserve. Unfortunately there are no paths through the site so
access is very difficult for wheelchairs and pushchairs.