Can anyone tell me what this means on an old map? Pic included

[FlorencePKettle]

It's a very old map and I'd like to know what the P stands for. Is it Pit? That would make sense as it's directly behind what used to be a claypit

Any ideas please?

Good spot. Google says a Pound was a man made pond. Maybe there was some sort of settling pond to purify the clay?

A pound is where stray animals were kept.

@Unescorted I've just downloaded that - looks fascinating

@schroeder don't think it will have meant that back 100 odd years ago?

@Bytrgrewd yes can see it. And it's in the same place isn't it

@FlorencePKettle

I wonder what a pound is?!

No idea 😆

Try looking at the national library for Scotland website they have OS maps for England too.

Have you got access to the whole map? Or just that image. I think that is an early 20th/late 19th century OS map, in which case you should be able to find it on the National Library of Scotland website: maps.nls.uk/os/

My gran lived in Pound Cottage in the middle of a village in Wiltshire. Next door was a small fenced field where, if you found eg sheep or cows on the road, you would round them up and pen them in there while the owners were found.

A pound was an enclosure where stray animals - a real nuisance in the past to growing crops etc - were kept until their owners came to pay a fine to get them released.
Hence the word 'impounded' - for taken away and kept.

Yep, most villages or towns would have them, sometimes called a penfold.
The animals would be of the the farmyard variety.

There's a reason why I'm asking all this and am curious to know! I'm not digging or metal detecting or anything like that but I'd like to find some pottery shards or glass bottles from years and years ago. Obviously being very mindful that all land belongs to someone!

Hmmm so it could well be an animal enclosure OR an old fashioned word for a pond - as it's on a claypit - I wonder what's more likely?

We have a couple of old pounds in our village - an area of common ground where a pen was erected- apparently animals that had strayed were put there sheep etc and the farmer would pay a due to get them back. The history society peeps here recently cleared one of brambles and explained what it was. Old rural thing - guess we have better fences now!

Or it could just be path - it’s marked FP on later maps

@Bytrgrewd yes it would probably be a footpath now I should think, sort of. It literally is an old field and I've not walked round it yet but it'll be close to a footpath for sure

The national Library of Scotland also has an amazing maps tool - maps.nls.uk/ If you type in a UK place name under explore georeferenced maps you can toggle between different publication dates.

[quote FlorencePKettle]@gillybean2 no not that but I can see why you thought it could be.

Where the P is, is literally in a field. It is behind houses on a new ish estate but it's a very old field where the P is pinpointed and that pump is in what passes for a high street if they make sense. There wouldn't be a nice pump like that in this specific field

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This is the key to old ordnance survey map keys.

Another vote for pump.

Pounds were also used on drovers’ routes as watering places for the animals - en route to market.

If you look at this page www.eastchallowpc.co.uk/neighbourhood-plan/news/ there is a PDF marked 'heritage assets'. On one of the maps on that document, the area you are asking about is marked NP6. The word WORKS is also shown plus a description: NP6: Site of Post Medieval Brick Kiln and Claypits. Would a pond have been a claypit?

@FoxyFoxyLoxy

The national Library of Scotland also has an amazing maps tool - maps.nls.uk/ If you type in a UK place name under explore georeferenced maps you can toggle between different publication dates.

It’s an amazing site!

pump. S is for spring.

@imthesame well, a claypit would definitely involve water for sure so this makes sense

Ye Olde Car Parking

@imthesame and that's a great pic and tip thank you