The county of Cheshire has the densest pond landscape in lowland Britain and probably has no equivalent elsewhere in North Western Europe.

The principle reason for this is the underlying clay soil known as marl, left behind as part of the glacial drift following the last Ice Age.

When spread on agricultural land, marl reduces acidity and increases fertility and so was a valuable resource before fertilisers became widely used. Records of marling in the Chester area date back to well over 800 years ago.

The pits from which the marl was dug, filled with rainwater and became ponds. All our native amphibians rely on pond and wetland habitats and 50% of Britain's most endangered wetland plants are found in or near them.

We not only conserve the pond habitats on the Eaton Estate, but in some cases we create new ponds and wetland areas to enhance wildlife in the area.