Eyeworth Pond is a pond located near

Fritham Fritham is a small village in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north of the New Forest, near the Wiltshire border. It is in the civil parish of Bramshaw. History The name Fritham may be derived from Old English meaning a cultivated plot (''ham ...

in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

, in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The pond was created in 1871 by damming

Latchmore Brook The Latchmore Brook is a significant stream in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It rises from the elevated gravel plateaus in the north of the Forest, north of Fritham, and drains into the River Avon north of Ibsley. The stream's catchment ...

, with the purpose of supplying water to a nearby gunpowder factory. The factory, the Schultze Gunpowder Factory, was based at Eyeworth Lodge and began making powder for sporting guns in 1859. Ten years later Edward Schultze took charge of the factory and began production of smokeless gunpowder on a large scale, employing around 100 people at the height of production. The factory closed in 1921 but the pond remains to this day. A small population of the introduced

Mandarin duck The mandarin duck (''Aix galericulata'') is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is medium-sized, at long with a wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus ''Aix'' ...

is resident on the pond, which is surrounded by

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

. A picnic site is located on its south side.

References

New Forest {{Hampshire-geo-stub