b'manage water levels and water flow) that indicates thethereafter until it was in ruins by 1388.level of planning (and financial outlay) that went intoThe remains that appear as humps and bumps the sites construction 11 .today have, at least, been well looked after. As a Official archaeological attention so far althoughscheduled monument that is under the watchful eyes minimal has produced results that are consistent withof tenants of the land, users who graze livestock and our thinking that the Palace site had a period of mainvillage residents who oversee it, the site preserves its use from the early 1200s to the early 1300s, decliningsecrets well.11Mike Pratt, LHB 15.The articles on which this summary is based were published in the Local History Bulletin (LHB) as follows:The Site of the Archbishop of Yorks Palace by Andrew Sefton, LHB 5.Wiltons Deer Park by Mike Pratt, LHB 7.The Dating of the Palace Site by Mike Pratt and Andrew Sefton, LHB 9.The Dating of the Palace Site - Update by Mike Pratt, LHB 10.The Extent of Wylton for 1388 by Andrew Sefton, LHB 11.1298 Inventory for the Manor of Wilton by Kate Pratt, LHB 11.The Layout of the Archbishops Palace Site, a collaborative effort, LHB 13.The Layout of the Archbishops Palace Site - Part 2 by Andrew Boyce, LHB 14.The Archbishops Fish Ponds by Mike Pratt, LHB 15 (this one!).The Archbishops Fish PondsMike PrattThe Palace site at Bishop Wilton is recognised as encompassing two fish ponds. This article clarifies their significance in terms of their design and construction. It also puts the consumption of freshwater fish into its medieval context.The Palace site provided the Archbishop of4.A series of dams was needed to manage theYork and his entourage with a place to stay duringwater levels and the water flow.diocesan journeys. But it was more than that, itOne point worth bearing in mind is that the volume was also a larder that yielded fish, rabbits, deer andof water flowing in the beck is less now than it would pigeons as well as the produce that came from thehave been in the 1200s due to the lowering of the demesne land in the area and from tithes. It is notWolds water table after removal of water for domestic surprising, therefore, that the design of the site andsupply. the surrounding area took account of this requirement. It incorporated fish ponds, warrens, a deer park andThe Water Mill & Mill Ponda dovecote along with the buildings to store produceIt is assumed that another component of the from the land. All of this would have needed thePalace site as initially constructed was a water mill in a security provided by a moat and a delimited boundarysimilar position to Mill House as it exists today. There to the wider parkland. is evidence to suggest that a substantial bank (part of This article attempts to explain the followingwhich now carries the outbuildings belonging to Mill speculative assumptions: House, accessed by steps up from the back door) 1.The fish ponds were an integral part of the initialacted as a dam and created a mill pond downstream design and landscaping of the Palace site alongof the fish ponds and that the water from this powered with the moat that runs along three sides. the mill. The mill and mill pond are shown on the 2.The main flow of the beck was diverted arounddiagram above but they are not explored any further in the moat in order to protect the fish ponds fromthis article.fast flowing water and the possibility of damage caused by seasonal flooding. The draining andFish PondsThe Historical Contextcleaning of the ponds would also have beenPurpose built ponds began to appear in the last facilitated. quarter of the 12th century 1 . For comparison, in the 3.To maintain the water levels in the fish pondsEast Riding of Yorkshire, two massive ponds at Bylandand in the moat, a header pond was needed.Abbey were constructed over the period from the 1J. McDonnell, 1981.276 BULLETIN 15'