Category Archives: History

Time Team at the Pond

memo0035

Cathy Holden writes:

“The ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ volunteer team morphed into the Time Team last Friday as we excavated a WWII site at the Pond. These concrete slabs were placed in situ when the land was owned and used by the military.

From the shape of them, our thoughts are that they were supports for large fuel tanks.

If anyone knows, please share with us.

Unfortunately, we didn’t unearth any interesting artifacts except possibly the remains of their china loo!”

Further fascinating history about Fleet Pond can be found here.

memo0039

memo0043

Some Fascinating Fleet Pond Facts

a1940-drained-pond-1940-1

Michelle Salter, Secretary of Fleet Pond Society, writes:

How old is the pond? The first clear reference to the pond was in the 14th century, when “the great fishery (of) Fleet Ponds” is referred to in the Rolls of Account of Crondall Manor. By this time, there seems to have been a thriving fishery of considerable importance and two ponds.

Do any museums house records of the pond? Many Victorian naturalists visited Fleet Pond and references to its flora frequently appeared in natural history journals from this era, with herbarium sheets located at the Natural History Museum in Kensington and also at Reading and Oxford.

When was the pond used as an ice rink? In the 1840’s, the South Western Railway ran special excursions to Fleet Pond, including a “Skating Specials” in the Winter.

When was the pond, not a pond? In 1940, the MOD completely drained the pond to stop hostile bombers from using it as a landmark to find the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough (see photo above).

What title did the pond receive in 1951? The pond was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1951 and was one of the first sites in Hampshire to receive this distinction, due to the importance of the lake to waterfowl and the rich aquatic and heathland flora.

Ed. This article is a repost, it was originally published in October 2008.

Local History Group Celebrates 30 Years

Old Map Fleet Pond

A map of the Pondtail area of Fleet in the 1880s donated to Fleet and Crookham Local History Group (see link below)

From Get Hampshire:

Fleet and Crookham Local History Group is 30 years old, having been set up in 1986 following a wish from within the Fleet and Crookham Civic Society to have a museum in Hart.

The archive catalogue lists more than 8,800 items and the scans of material donated or loaned now numbers more than 58,000.

The group is now looking for a secure room in which to store archive material, with additional space for volunteers to work on cataloguing and scanning, and to carry out research and answer enquiries.

In 2007, the group was given a National Lottery award of £3,880 to increase public access.

This included purchase of display stands and providing copies of local history material, such as directories, census returns and topics relating to businesses, sport and graveyard memorials, in a set of red binders on open shelves in Fleet Library.

To widen contact with the public, the group invites enquiries and offers of information at its Meet the Local History Detectives sessions, held in Fleet Library.

The History Group’s web site can be found here.

You can find detailed information on the history of Fleet Pond on the FPS website here.