The tarmac was cleaned off the dam and was dug down to a depth of about 450mm, removing soil containing fragments of brick, clinker and small pieces of industrial slag. Below this material was the cobbled surface. This was found to cover most of the dam below the area of the tarmac road. The cobbles were a dark grey-green Rowley Rag, which is a local basalt. The size of the cobbled stones varied quite considerably from large flat slabs 150mm square, and upward, to thinner rectangular pieces only 50-70mm across. The cobbles had been set into yellow-brown clay to form a fairly level surface across the dam. The basalt from which the cobbles are made seems to have been chosen for its hardwearing properties. The stones do not therefore show many signs of wear and tear such as scratches on the surfaces if they had it would have suggested that vehicles once travelled over the dam.
Deep bore holes were also drilled into the core of the dam; these did not reveal any other road surfacing below the cobbles, which would suggest that the cobbles are indeed the original surface of the dam. Whilst we have no evidence that the cobbles were laid
by Shenstone himself, the nature of the rock material used is consistent with his era; and we are therefore confident that this cobbled surface is of William Shenstone's time.
There was also some evidence of the base of the original wall of the dam, on the lower side. This wall has lost most of its upper courses making it impossible to determine its original height. Was it of a height that visitors to the park could lean on it to admire the view down the valley? Or was it actually little higher than the surface of the cobbled road? It is hoped that the excavations required to rebuild the dam will reveal more about this wall, providing further information about its structure and appearance. However, it is possible to say that this wall was constructed from sandstone/gritstone rubble sourced locally. This was faced with a local 'Espley' Rock. In later years this wall was used as the foundation for newer walls which were built off the top of it.
From the location of this wall we are able to say that Shenstone's dam was about 6m wide.
