Lying close to the village of

Soudley Soudley is a small village to the west of Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, west Gloucestershire, England.It joins with Ruspidge to form a civil parish. Nearby attractions include the Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley Ponds and the Blaize Baile ...

in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

, west

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Soudley Ponds (), also known as Sutton Ponds, comprise four linked man-made ponds lined in succession through the narrow Sutton Valley, and surrounded by stands of tall Douglas Fir. It is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1984.Natural England information on Soudley Ponds SSSI - citation, map and unit details
/ref> The site is listed in the 'Forest of Dean Local Plan Review' as a Key Wildlife Site (KWS).Forest of Dean District Local Plan Review, adopted November 2005, Appendix D 'Nature Conservation Site Designations Within the Forest of Dean District', Key Wildlife Sites
/ref>

History

The ponds were formerly believed to have been dug in the 18th century to provide water to the furnaces in the Soudley Valley and at the nearby Camp Mill. In fact these would have been fed from the Soudley Brook, and from the Tilting Mill Pool, now in the grounds of the

Dean Heritage Centre The Dean Heritage Centre is located in the valley of Soudley, Gloucestershire, England in the Forest of Dean and exists to record and preserve the social and industrial history of the area and its people. The centre comprises the museum itself, ...

. It has also been erroneously claimed that they were dug long before this as fish ponds by the monks of the nearby

Flaxley Abbey Flaxley Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in England, now a Grade I listed manor and private residence, near the village of Flaxley in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. It is the former seat of the Crawley-Boevey Baronets. History F ...

. However, Atkinson’s map of 1847 shows only a stream running through the valley where the ponds now lie, and it is nowadays assumed that were created as fish ponds after the land’s 1836 purchase by mine-owner William Crawshay. In 1899 the ponds, along with the rest of the Abbotswood Estate, were sold by

Robert Crawshay Robert Thompson Crawshay (3 March 1817 – 10 May 1879) was a British ironmaster. Life Crawshay, youngest son of William Crawshay by his second wife, Bella Thompson, was born at Cyfarthfa Ironworks. He was educated at Dr. Prichard's school at ...

, William’s son, to the Crown, from which point they were leased for fishing to private individuals. It was only in 1906 that the ponds became as they are today, following the work of Arthur Morgan, who had that year acquired the lease of the ponds, and after whom the lowest of the ponds is still locally known as Morgan’s Pool.

Ownership and usage

Now in the care of

Forestry England Forestry England is a division of the Forestry Commission, responsible for managing and promoting publicly owned forests in England. It was formed as Forest Enterprise in 1996, before devolving to Forest Enterprise England on 31 March 2003 and ...

, and declared an SSSI by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

, the ponds are one of the Forest of Dean’s most delightful spots, particularly in Spring and in Autumn, and are still used by the anglers of the Soudley Fishing Consortium.

Publications

*The Sutton Ponds, A K Pope, Cindeford, 1986.

References

SSSI Source

Natural England SSSI information on the citation

Natural England SSSI information on the Soudley Pond unit

External links

Photographs of Soudley Ponds and surrounding area on geographSoudley Ponds Forestry England Website

Natural England
(SSSI information)
Forestry England
{{SSSIs Gloucs biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Gloucestershire Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1984 Nature reserves in Gloucestershire Forest of Dean Tourist attractions in Gloucestershire