Place Name
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is a reference to Prince of Wales Pond on South Row, in fact it refers to another ornamental water which stood in the gardens of Wricklemarsh House, the country seat of the amusingly named Sir Gregory Page Turner. The house had been built for his great uncle in the early part of the 18thCentury. However, Sir Gregory, who already had his own mansion, had no need of this inheritance and so sold the 200 acres estate to John Cator for development. Cator himself couldn’t sell the house and didn’t need it so had it demolished and its various materials repurposed. The property had been sold so cheaply that with the sale of these features he able to recoup the amount he had paid for the whole estate. The pond, which stood to the south of the mansion survived for many years. It was drained in the early part of the 20thCentury, but its ghostly shape remains as a footpath around Pond Close Green.
