The Fish Ponds
During the medieval period the fishponds main purpose was to produce fish. According to Crescenzii you should also keep fish in your pools to admire, much as we do today.
Medieval fishponds would have a steady flow of water through them to prevent the water becoming stagnant. The water would not be very deep because you need to be able to catch the fish easily for food. The banks would also have been kept free of growth as one easy way to catch the fish would be to drag a net across the pond.
There are Rudd in our ponds, but I have also seen eels in them. The River Nene is not far away and as the stream at the boundary of the gardens flows into the Nene, the eels can swim easily along the stream and wriggle across to our ponds.
During the medieval period the fishponds main purpose was to produce fish. According to Crescenzii you should also keep fish in your pools to admire, much as we do today.
Medieval fishponds would have a steady flow of water through them to prevent the water becoming stagnant. The water would not be very deep because you need to be able to catch the fish easily for food. The banks would also have been kept free of growth as one easy way to catch the fish would be to drag a net across the pond.
There are Rudd in our ponds, but I have also seen eels in them. The River Nene is not far away and as the stream at the boundary of the gardens flows into the Nene, the eels can swim easily along the stream and wriggle across to our ponds.