Monument record MDR15693 - Fishponds, Carnfield Wood, Carnfield Hall, South Normanton

The earliest documentary references to Cairnfield Wood are in the 14th century. In about 1400 to 1500 the adjoining estate of Cotes or Somercotes belonged to the Abbey of Beauchief, well known for constructing fishponds. The first named inhabitants of Cairnfield Hall are Alice, great-grandaughter of Sir Anthony Babington (unclear), and her husband, who together may have owned both the wood and the hall, though there are no records of the fishponds at this point. It was however noted at some stage that the area between the wood and the hall was an orchard and land for rabbit breeding. The main fishpond appears on the earliest estate map of 1693, where the shape of the wood matches the outline of the pond. Between 1700 and 1714 any ground traces of connections between the hall and wood were probably lost when Robert Revell mondernised the hall and laid out avenues and paths for a garden. The main pond and two smaller ponds can be seen on a 1797 estate map. In 1816 an auction took place, dividing up the estate. About 200 oaks were removed from the wood, along with elms, ashes, sycamores and other trees. By 1834 it seems the smaller ponds were filled in. In the 1860s the railway was constructed through the wood which may have altered the drainage and supply channel earthworks to the pond. (1)