The pond, the size of a lake, is the only surviving one of the two built to power Speedwell Mill and Scholes Mill. It was fed from Knabhall Brook. A pipe carried its water onto the waterwheel in Scholes Mill. The pond was fed from Knabhall Brook which springs from Tansley Moor.

Tansley once had five ponds for powering mills. Two others survive, one nearby and the other by Foxholes Lane.

Today, the pond is used for angling, with both Knabhall Brook and Foxholes Brook passing it by.