Restoring The Wellington Basins

In 1803, Thomas Fox built two ponds to supply a water wheel based at Fox Brothers woollen mill at Tonedale in Wellington. These ponds were called the basins and were fed by an intricate system of feeder streams, weirs and sluices. Two streams were utilised to provide the feed, Westford stream and Rockwell Green stream, the main source being the Westford stream. Although these ponds no longer serve any water wheel, they are used by local anglers and are visited daily by many people walking their dogs, feeding the ducks or taking a short cut from Rockwell Green to Wellington. The area is a County Wildlife Site (CWS) and provides a habitat for a range of flora and fauna and is much loved by many. There are preservation orders on many of the trees around The Basins and the site was proposed as a Local Nature Reserve in the West Deane local plan. All of the local schools use the basins area for nature studies. In fact the whole area is important from a historical, environmental and educational point of view, as well as being a much used recreational area. We are a group of interested people who have formed The Basins Volunteer Group and we would like to restore The Basins to their former glory as far as we can. The current owners of the ponds and waterways have intimated they may give the area to Wellington Town Council in the near future. We have over 40 people who have indicated they would like to be involved in this project and have representatives on our committee from TDBC Heritage & Environment Team, Wellington Town Council, Friends of Wellington Park and Wellington in Bloom among our committee members. If you are interested and would like to find out more, please visit our website at www.wellingtonbasins.co.uk