Hidden Henley

This is the first of two subjects that are a short distance from Henley-on-Thames before I return to curiosities in our town itself. My picture this week could be a scene of a pond set in woods almost anywhere in the country. In fact, it is located where it is least expected. As you walk through Nettlebed Common from the cricket field towards Mill Road, you are likely to be taken by surprise at this big pond, known locally as The Sea. It was even bigger years ago and has lost water level this year like all rivers, canals, reservoirs and lakes with the drought plus the gradual encroachment of trees and shrubs and their fallen branches and sedimentation.

My late uncle, Arthur Wheeler, prompted me years ago to investigate this curious spot. Although he spent most of his life in nearby Hambleden, he lived in this village and played here as a boy here and remembers this large former clay pit and its unusual name. If I was ever tempted to doubt his strange name for what was originally quite a lake set out in the open then the information board confirms his memory. It’s on the opposite side of the recreation ground where Priest Hill is a designated SSSI and there’s a photo plus text referring to it by this peculiar name!

It was one of several ponds in the area, most of which were formed when clay was dug for the local brick, tile and pot making industries in Nettlebed and these pits subsequently filled with water. Many have since filled in, but this one was dug in 1876 and even had pipe track laid to the potteries and to Joyce Grove. My research indicates that many years ago a boy named John Summerfield was drowned during one particularly hard winter when he fell through this ice covered pond into the treacherous water below.

Hidden Henley articles are by Martin Cook: available here or Instagram hidden_henley or Facebook Martin Cook or hiddenhenley.com

In the past I gave these articles to the Henley Standard newspaper (for 25 years) but are now only available on-line. The villages and surrounding area of Henley are often featured in the same way as was the case when in the newspaper.