Editing Richmond Park (section)

===Ponds and streams===

There are about 30 ponds in the park. Some&nbsp;– including Barn Wood Pond, Bishop's Pond, Gallows Pond, Leg of Mutton Pond, Martin's Pond and White Ash Pond&nbsp;– have been created to drain the land or to provide water for livestock. The Pen Ponds (which in the past were used to rear [[carp]] for food)<ref name="FRP Guide16">{{cite book | title=''"Ecology" in'' Guide to Richmond Park | author=Nigel Reeve|publisher=[[Friends of Richmond Park]] | year=2011 | page=16|isbn=978-0-9567469-0-0}}</ref> date from 1746.<ref name="Landscape History"/> They were formed when a trench was dug in the early 17th century to drain a boggy area; later in that century this was widened and deepened by the extraction of gravel for local building. The Ponds now take in water from streams flowing from the higher ground around them and release it to [[Beverley Brook]]. Beverley Brook and the two Pen Ponds are most visible areas of water in the park.<ref name="Davison">{{cite web | url=http://www.frp.org.uk/pdf/frp/401_Water_in_the_Park_.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207051757/http://www.frp.org.uk/pdf/frp/401_Water_in_the_Park_.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2015 |title=Water in the Park | publisher=[[#Friends of Richmond Park|Friends of Richmond Park]] | access-date=7 March 2024 | author=Michael Davison}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines heights=180 widths=220>
File:Pen Ponds, Richmond Park - geograph.org.uk - 17621.jpg|The southern and upper of the two Pen Ponds
File:Richmond Park's Upper Pen Pond drained for work on outflow.jpg|The upper Pen Pond drained to protect its dam during work on its outflow
File:Stream in Isabella Plantation - geograph.org.uk - 1273691.jpg|A stream flowing through the [[Isabella Plantation]]
</gallery>

Beverley Brook rises at Cuddington Recreation Ground in [[Worcester Park]]<ref name=inwood>{{cite book | title=Historic London: An Explorer's Companion | author= Stephen Inwood | publisher=[[Pan Macmillan]] | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-230-70598-2 | page=382 }}</ref> and enters the park (where it is followed by the Tamsin Trail and Beverley Walk) at Robin Hood Gate, creating a water feature used by deer, smaller animals and water grasses and some [[Nymphaeaceae|water lilies]]. Its name is derived from the former presence in the river of the [[European beaver]] (''Castor fiber''),<ref>{{cite book | title=Place-names of Greater London | author=John Field | publisher=[[Batsford]] | year=1980 | isbn=978-0-7134-2538-3 | pages=30,166}}</ref> a species extinct in Britain since the 16th century.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Castorologia: Or The History and Traditions of the Canadian Beaver |journal= Nature |volume= 47 |issue= 1210 |author= Horace T. Martin |s2cid= 4010227 |year=1892 |publisher=W. Drysdale |isbn=978-0-665-07939-9 |page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRgPAAAAYAAJ |bibcode= 1893Natur..47..224. |doi= 10.1038/047224a0 |hdl= 2027/hvd.32044107351124 |hdl-access= free }}</ref>

Most of the streams in the park drain into Beverley Brook but a spring above Dann's Pond flows to join [[Sudbrook (stream)|Sudbrook]] (from "South brook") on the park boundary. Sudbrook flows through a small valley known as Ham Dip and has been dammed and enlarged in two places to form Ham Dip Pond and Ham Gate Pond, first mapped in 1861 and 1754 respectively. These were created for the watering of deer.<ref>McDowall, pp. 131–132</ref> Both ponds underwent restoration work including de-silting, which was completed in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.frp.org.uk/work-starts-on-more-ponds/ |date=27 September 2012 |title=Work starts on more ponds |publisher=[[#Friends of Richmond Park|Friends of Richmond Park]] |access-date=1 January 2024}}</ref> Sudbrook drains the western [[escarpment]] of the hill that, to the east, forms part of the catchment of Beverley Brook and, to the south, the [[Hogsmill River]]. Sudbrook is joined by the [[Latchmere stream]] just beyond Ham Gate Pond. Sudbrook then flows into [[Sudbrook Park]], Petersham. Another stream rises north of Sidmouth Wood and goes through Conduit Wood towards the park boundary near Bog Gate.<ref name="Davison"/>

A separate water system for Isabella Plantation was developed in the 1950s. Water from the upper Pen Pond is pumped to Still Pond, Thomson's Pond and Peg's Pond.<ref name="Davison"/>

The park's newest pond is Attenborough Pond, opened by and named after the broadcaster and naturalist [[Sir David Attenborough]] in July 2014.<ref name="New pond">{{cite journal | title=A new pond for the park | author=Michael Davison| journal=Friends of Richmond Park Newsletter |date=Autumn 2014 | page=8}}</ref> It was created as part of the park's [[#Friends of Richmond Park|Ponds and Streams Conservation Programme]].<ref name="Attenborough">{{cite web | url=https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/richmond-park/richmond-park-news/sir-david-opens-attenborough-pond-in-richmond-park-and-launches-conservation-appeal-for-beverley-brook | title=Sir David opens Attenborough Pond in Richmond Park and launches conservation appeal for Beverley Brook | publisher=[[The Royal Parks]] | work=Richmond Park News | date=16 July 2014 | access-date=21 June 2023}}</ref>