At least two of the features marked could be artificial ponds, perhaps providing watering holes for animals in the woodland. The largest and most convincing of these is located in an area of woodland away from footpaths to the north of the Major Oak. It comprises a broad and irregular hollow, which may be natural in origin, with a smaller steep-sided interior hollow. Surveyors recorded that patches of clay were visible in the smaller central hollow, which could represent clay lining for a pond. In addition to the physical evidence there is a pond marked in this approximate location on the 1791 map which is labelled ‘Budby Pool’. Occasionally this feature appears on other historic maps. It is clearly evident on the Lidar imagery and sits on the side of a dry valley rather than, as might be expected, in the bottom of it.

The date of this feature is uncertain, but the mapping evidence combined with the veteran oaks growing within the feature could conceivably give it a Medieval date.

Two other possible ponds were recorded by the survey. The most convincing of these is directly to the west of the Major Oak clearing, where a depression is visible on the Lidar imagery. Anecdotal evidence from the volunteers and rangers at the country park suggest that this was a pond but was filled in for safety reasons in the early days of tourism to the area.

Emily Gillott, 2017, Walkover Survey in Sherwood Forest Country Park, Page 20-21 (Unpublished document). SNT5784.