Monument record MDR13521 - Ditch, Mill Meadow, Kedleston Park

A straight linear ditch at the east end of Mill Meadow, orientated east-west, and extending from the small brook that runs along the south side of the meadow to the overflow that lies below the Lower Lake, where it fades out in the locality of the footbridge. It is approximately 135 metres in length, 11 metres wide, and is defined between two low earthen banks. The west half of this feature lies under pasture, but the east half enters in to an area of woodland where it is less visible. The whole feature is shallow, no more than c. 50 centimetres in depth. It is almost certainly the ditch marked as 'Acquedock' on Noon's survey of probable 18th century date, which shows the end of the 'acquedock' disappearing beneath a bridge carrying a towing path. The survey indicates that the ditch formed a watercourse at the bottom end of Mill Meadow, possibly associated with the mill, sited at the bottom end of Lower Lake. However, the level of the small brook to the south is much lower than the base of the ditch so that the two features appear to be unconnected. The east end of the ditch bears little relationship to the sill and weir that lie at the bottom end of the Lower Lake as these are almost certainly a later development dating from the second half of the 18th century. (1)