into the wash tank, which is empty and so is clearly visible. The sluice gate, the water supply spout and the narrow ramp by which the sheep left the tank are still there. The surrounding area is mowed and well maintained and you can stand on the paved platform from which the sheep would have been pushed into the water and where the shepherds would have busied themselves with crooks and brushes, leaning over to rub and pummel the sheep, before sending them under the spout for a rinse and up the ramp to freedom.
TAKING THE
plunge Sheepwashes were a feature in rural England wherever large flocks were kept, and unsurprisingly, because wool production was a speciality of the Cotswolds, there was a higher concentration of them there. As mechanical cleaning of fleeces was gradually introduced washpools became redundant. Some were undoubtedly modified and repurposed for dipping for parasite control, but because of the potential danger to operators posed by the organophosphorus compounds used, sheep are rarely dipped nowadays. There are now much safer parasiticidal products available that can be injected or poured on to the sheep, so the sheepwashes have fallen into disrepair. Of the hundreds of sheepwashes that existed in the Cotswolds alone, there are probably only about a score still intact, and of these only a few have been restored and have public access. There is a rectangular one near Ascottunder-Wychwood that was built in the 19th century and is supplied with water via a leat from the nearby fishpond. It’s right next to a footpath and can be inspected if you’re determined. An overgrowth of goose grass at this time of year makes it difficult to imagine it in use, but there’s an illustrated notice board which explains its purpose. Just north of Farmington in Gloucestershire there’s a sheepwash which is referred to locally as the washpool. It’s marked on the ordnance survey map of the area and nearby “sheep pens” and “washpool wood” are also indicated. In this case the tank is roughly oval and is supplied from a spring. Here too to see it properly you have to beat the weeds back. 58
Four Shires D
AUGUST 2014
This needs to be done with considerable care so as not to take an unwelcome plunge! There is an information board and a hazard warning notice. Perhaps the nearest more-or-less intact sheepwash to Banbury is at Kingham, although this is on private land. It was constructed in a leat of the Mill there which is now a hotel. The rectangular tank is present but is full of reeds, and there are two sluice gates to control the flow of water, which is now no more than a trickle. The exit ramp for the sheep is missing and there is little indication of the structure’s original purpose, but it makes an attractive water feature for the hotel and can just be seen from the road. The best place to get a feel for what a sheepwash was really like is at Cutsdean in Gloucestershire, where there is a wellmaintained 19th century version. Here the spring that used to supply the pool is now diverted under the nearby road instead of
Today it’s a peaceful spot. There’s nothing to hear but the cascade of water from the spring across the road, and the occasional buzz of a bumblebee feeding in the flowers by the fence. What a contrast it would have been a couple of hundred years ago on wash day. Hundreds of confused anxious sheep awaiting their turn for a dunk; two or three thrashing and splashing in the tank, and others making a soggy dash for freedom, all bleating for Britain. There might have been a bit of shouting and swearing by the shepherds too. All in all, a cacophony of sound. Sheepwashes have long outlived their usefulness, but those that remain give an insight into how dramatically some aspects of life have changed over the centuries. Washing the woollies today is far less stressful than it was a few hundred years ago, both for the shepherd and the sheep! D from top: Farmington washpool showing the throwing platform and overgrown waterspout. The escape ramp is in the foreground; the washpool at Kingham Mill; the throwing platform at Cutsdean with thanks to Kingham Mill Hotel for permission to photograph their sheepwash