MDE21141 - 19th Century mill pond northeast of West Hill Plantation (Monument)

The Tithe Map for Parracombe shows the river with no features and the land part of the site as part of a larger field. [1] The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map depicts and labels a mill pond nestled in the turn of the river, at SS 6551 4560. A weir is sited directly to the south at SS 6550 4558; this presumably feeds the pond. There is a mill further downstream with which it is likely associated (MDE21144, Bumsley Mill), fed by a leat commencing 60 metres downstream of the pond (MDE20641). [2] The pond is not labelled on the 2nd Edition map, although it is depicted as an area of marshy ground. The weir is still shown. [3] The weir is still shown on the 1963 Ordnance Survey map, and on modern MasterMap data. [4,5] Upstream of the take-off point for the leat from the Heddon River it is reported that there was a mill pond and this would be logical, but this pond was not evident in 1952 when the area was overgrown with scrub and trees. [6] 2020 MasterMap data shows a pond sited to the west of the original pond. The original pond is not shown, but its general extent is shown as a similarly enclosed space and the weir is still extant. [7]