Working in gardens all my life, especially if I have been creating a new feature has always thrown up the possibility of unearthing something interesting. Bits of pottery, and glass, old smoking pipes, bits of iron, sets you thinking about their origins and who originally used these things. Just occasionally I have come across something a bit more spectacular. In 1984 I was making a model of a 1901 Ransome horse plough which was a hobby of mine then. At that time I was preparing a new garden at a country house. Using a rotovator I struck a piece of iron. I stopped to see what this was, and it turned out to be the coulter of an old iron plough, not only that it was of he very same model that I was making in miniature, so I knew exactly what it was.
A few years later on the same estate it was decided to create a lake for conservation purposes, this was to be at the lower end of a terrace in a somewhat boggy area. We designed the size and shape of he lake and I organised the necessary equipment and labour to undertake this project. I started at the wettest end and where it was to be the deepest first so that if thew weather changed we would have less risk of being bogged down. After stripping off the topsoil we started to dig into the clay, much of the spoil we were able to disperse locally and landscape it. On the second day of digging the machine operator hit a piece of wood which I thought was a submerged railway sleeper, we carefully cleaned it off with spades just in case it turned out to be something of importance. It was good job that we did as it soon became evident that it was two wooden elm water pipes, laid horizontally and pegged with stakes to keep in position. Each section was three metres in length and joined together by a removable lid. Realising that this could be of some importance we contacted the Nautical Archaeology Society. Dr Valerie Fenwick and her colleagues came very quickly to look at our find, they were currently restoring the Mary Rose in Chichester. They were very excited about what we had discovered, and soon measured it dated it and took lots of photographs of it. It had t be kept constantly wet as if it had dried out it would have soon disintegrated. When the experts had gathered all the information that they could we then lifted the wood carefully, wrapped it all in tarpaulin sheeting and then re- submerged it in a new pool specially dug for this purpose. We continued with the creating of the lake and made a small island in it, and then finished the landscaping around the new pond and planted some native trees. The finished pond has become very successful attracting lots of wild life over the years since.
We eventually got he results back from the archaeologists, who confirmed that the wooden pipes were part of a balancing system to keep the water of an artificial pond at a constant level. The pond was a fish pond to provide a staple diet for monks at a medieval monastery that had existed in the area, Further credence was lent to this theory as we dug up lots of fresh water oyster shells.
Colin Tuffrey painted a wonderful watercolour of the area including the water meadow and the lake with the Manor House and Church in the background, I was presented with this painting on my retirement, which is a constant reminder of my time spent creating the lake.
Colin Tuffrey painted a wonderful watercolour of the area including the water meadow and the lake with the Manor House and Church in the background, I was presented with this painting on my retirement, which is a constant reminder of my time spent creating the lake.