Pond Life – an Exhibition at Histon Library

Posted on September 6, 2023 by HIAG Website Administrator

Not in this case an exhibition about frogs, toads and newts, but of human life, lived near a pond in Histon and as reflected in the objects found discarded in the pond.

If you have an interest in the bygones of village life, then this exhibition of the curios found at the bottom of the East Pond on Croft Close Set Aside (CCSA) last Autumn is for you. CCSA is part of Abbey Fields and is that magical 11 acres of wilderness, woodland and open areas accessed through Croft Close, which the village has now secured in perpetuity.

The occasion was a dredging exercise to help reduce the drying out of the pond in summer – for the sake of wildlife.

The pond has been part of the CCSA ecosystem for a long time as well as being part of a heritage landscape going back to at least Anglo-Saxon times. Alas, no ancient pottery or votive sword offerings were found. At first glance they looked like random selection of refuse, mostly Victorian, some earlier and some later. But after a good clean of the black slime encrusting them, we thought that some of the stories behind the objects might be of interest to all ages.

After washing some of the objects recovered from the pond

Thus 17 of the objects are now on display in an exhibition in Histon Library together with the results of some fascinating background research.

The items vary from the remains of a fashionable ladies Victorian or Edwardian boot – but fitted with hobnails! – to an open hearth cast-iron cooking pot found in four large pieces and now reassembled. These pots were handed down the generations until they finally cracked. John Bull garage on Station Road on the current garage site sold motor engine oil in tall glass bottles – we found one inscribed ‘Essolube’ marketed in the UK from the 1930s. We have a photograph of the garage from the 1940s showing similar bottles for sale. The stories behind the objects bring to life Victorian entrepreneurs, for example the Sheffield metal worker James Chesterman, who invented everything to do with modern tape measures.

Part of the exhibition of the objects with the results of background research

An Airfix model aeroplane reminds us of this once hugely popular hobby. It is also tempting to imagine why there might be ammunition from a .38 calibre revolver, popular as sidearms for British and American officers in the 20th century. The exhibition includes a shard from a Victorian ceramic hot water bottle, and one of green glazed Border Ware popular in the 16th and 17th centuries in southern England and also exported in quantity to the North American ‘colonies’. And more! We hope you enjoy the exhibition, and perhaps think further about similar items that you or a family member may have at home – or thrown away! We would welcome feedback.

Thanks go to the volunteers of Abbey Fields and HIAG who collaborated on this project, to Histon & Impington Green Spaces (the Abbey Fields charity) and to Histon Library for the loan of the display space from now to Christmas.

Arnold Fertig

Histon & Impington Archaeology Group

A community archaeology group based in South Cambridgeshire

Protected: HIAG-Talk-Recording-2024-02-12-Unseen-Histon-and-Impington

Recent Posts

Pond Life – an Exhibition at Histon Library