Coldharbour Lane,

East Sussex

History of Idenwood Fishery

Idenwood is an ancient Sussex woodland consisting mainly of oaks, sweet chestnut, hornbeam and silver birch. It has been in the ownership of the Ashdown family since the end of the Second World War. It was the present owner Andy Ashdown and his father Stewart who first thought up the Idea of creating a fishery on the site twenty five years ago. Being keen anglers, they saw the potential of a commercial fishery, and set about creating his first lake which is now the Specimen Lake. In the first year trout were introduced, but it soon became apparent that the future lay in coarse fishing, and so carp, roach, tench and perch were stocked, and as the lake matured, the fish, particularly the carp thrived.

As the lake became more and more popular, the need for expansion arose, and the Orchard Lake was constructed, once again stocked with carp, tench, roach and perch. After that with the co-operation of Southern Water Authority, now the Environment Agency, the Match Lake, Tench Lake and Spring Lake appeared on the scene, all of which have been enlarged by the family in subsequent years. With the latest addition, the Middle Match Lake, their are now six separate pools to fish, offering a variety of fish of different sizes to suite all styles of fishing.