CANNOP
Famous for its two large ponds and Forestry Commission
picnic site, there was no historical settlement at Cannop,
but the entire area was a centre of much industrial
activity in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ponds are
not natural, being created in 1826 on naturally marshy
ground to form reservoirs to supply Parkend Ironworks,
over a mile downstream. The flow of water was regulated
by a weirs (which still exist at the southern ends of
the ponds) and the water was channelled to Parkend in
stone lined waterways known as 'leats'. Between the
ponds are Cannop Stonework's which began wok in 1902
to produce high quality building stone from the numerous
quarries in the area.
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