Sowley Pond

Sowley Pond is a 49.3-hectare (122-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Lymington in Hampshire.[1][2] It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site[3] and Special Protection Area.[4] It is an important refuge for both surface feeding and diving ducks and functions as an integral part of the marshland system of the west Solent.

Sowley Pond

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of Search	Hampshire
Grid reference	SZ 375 968[1]
Interest	Biological
Area	49.3 hectares (122 acres)[1]
Notification	1984[1]
Location map	Magic Map

Location

Sowley Pond is situated on the southern edge of the New Forest, approximately 1 km from the Solent and is midway between Lymington and Bucklers Hard. The road crossing the dam that was constructed to form the pond is part of the Solent Way long-distance footpath.[5]

History

Sowley Pond was formed in the fourteenth century by monks from nearby Beaulieu Abbey who dammed the Crockford stream, which rises on Beaulieu Heath, to form a fishery.[6]

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the pond was used to supply water for an ironworks situated on the opposite side of the road on what is now Sandpit Lane.[7]

The Ironworks

The Sowley ironworks were completed in the 1590s by the Earl of Southampton. It had a tenuous existence during the 17th century, but with the rapid expansion of Portsmouth dockyard the works were taken over by Henry Corbett, a specialist blacksmith from London, who set up a forge at Beaulieu in conjunction with Sowley. He was financed by Edmund Dummer, a former surveyor of the Navy, and naval contracts for wrought iron followed. Corbett died in 1708 and Dummer continued the business until 1712 when he went bankrupt and his brother Thomas (an ex-navy purser) continued to supply the navy until 1716.[8] By the 1790s, the ironworks were leased by Charles Pocock who lived at the adjacent Sowley House but the ironworks became uneconomic and ceased operating after the Napoleonic Wars.[9] The forge continued to operate until about 1822.[7]

At various times a water powered blast furnace existed as well as (intermittently) a finery forge. In the 1750s an air furnace was built. Today, the site of the furnace is indicated by a patch of reddened earth, around which is a heavy concentration of furnace slag. The site of the forge is near the edge of a hollow (wheelpit) below the dam,[10] where heavy concentrations of forge cinder marks are evident.[11] There is a local saying that "the Sowley hammer can be heard" which means that rain is on the way.[12]

Sowley House

The house, which is situated to the south of the pond, is privately owned and not open to the public. In 2001, it was occupied by Otto and Catharina van der Vorm, from the Netherlands. The gardens have large quantities of rare orchids and wild flower meadows which extend down to the Solent shore.[13]

The former Forge Hammer Inn adjacent to the house and ironworks was used by smugglers in the eighteenth century to hide contraband. The goods were landed at nearby Pitts Deep Hard and hidden in the cellars of the inn. During one raid by the coastguard the landlady was despatched to divert the coastguards while the tubs of illicit brandy were moved from their hiding place in the chimney to the safety of a nearby copse of trees. "The landlady advanced upon them. Singling out one of the officers who owed her a score for...liquid refreshment, she abused him roundly for not paying his debts..." When the contraband was safe, the landlady admitted the coastguard, who found nothing, and were once more abused for interfering with the business of honest citizens.[14]

Flora

Among the tree and plant species found at Sowley are:[15]

• Oak
• Scots pine
• Hazel
• Common hawthorn
• Butcher’s broom
• Wood spurge
• Early purple orchid [16]
• Lesser quaking-grass[17]

Fauna

Sowley is the home to many species of bird, including:[15]

• Mallard
• Eurasian wigeon
• Eurasian teal
• Tufted duck
• Common pochard
• Great crested grebe
• Grey heron

The heronry at Sowley is one of the largest in Hampshire; in 2018 this held 17 occupied nests.[18]

Variable damselfly also breed at Sowley Pond.[19]

In the 1900s, King Edward VII presented a pair of sika deer to John, the second Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. This pair escaped into Sowley Wood and were the basis of the large herds of sika to be found in the forest today. They were so prolific that culling had to be introduced in the 1930s to control numbers.[20]

References

1. "Designated Sites View: Sowley Pond". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
2. "Map of Sowley Pond". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
3. "Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water". Ramsar Site. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
4. "Designated Sites View: Solent and Southampton Water". Special Protection Areas. Natural England. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
5. "The Solent Way: Lymington to Beaulieu". www.solentway.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
6. Andrew Walmsley (2008). "Beaulieu History: a brief overview". New Forest Explorers' Guide. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
7. Catharina van der Vorm; Emma Page. "Sowley House and the Ironworks" (PDF). Retrieved 10 October 2016.
8. Jeremy Greenwood (Winter 2002). "The Sowley Ironworks and its naval connections" (PDF). HMS News. Historical Metallurgy Society. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
9. "Henry Pocock and his Family". The history of Chalfont St Giles. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
10. Jeremy Greenwood. A history of the ironworks at Sowley.2005.
11. "Beaulieu: Historical or Literary Associations". Hampshire Treasures. Hampshire County Council. 29 March 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
12. J. S. P. Agg Large. "The Lonely Men of the Forest". The Rufus Stone and the Purkis Connection. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
13. Pat Holt (23 June 2001). "Seaside Paradise". thisishampshire.net. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
14. Richard Platt. "Smuggling in Hampshire". Tempus Publishing. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
15. "Sowley Pond SSSI – Notification details" (PDF). Natural England. 1984. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
16. Peter Burford (3 May 2002). "Orchids of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight". Southampton Natural History Society. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
17. Martin Rand (2006). "Arable Margins - Reaping the Benefits?". Hants Plants: Botany in Hampshire. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
18. Chalmers, Mike. Hampshire Bird Report 2018. Hampshire Ornithological Society. p. 55.
19. "Variable Damselfly". Hampshire Dragonflies. localpatch. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
20. "British Mammals: Sika Deer". BBC. 15 June 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2009.