Reasons for Designation
Decoy ponds are artificially created or modified pools of water onto which
wildfowl were lured to be trapped and killed for food and for feathers. They
consist of a central pool off which lead a number of curving arms or ditches,
known as pipes. Nets were constructed over the narrowing ends of these pipes
towards which the birds were lured by the decoyman and his dog. Screens were
erected along the sides of the pipes with carefully placed gaps so that the
dog would be visible to the birds only when his appearance would lead the
birds towards the nets at the ends of the pipes. Once at the ends the nets
would be dropped and the decoyman was able to wring the birds' necks.
The tradition of constructing such ponds appears to have begun in the medieval
period, with the simplest designs indicating an early date. The more familiar
decoy pond, however, is said to have originated in Holland and to have been
introduced into England in the 17th century. The word `decoy' is said to
derive from the Dutch `eendenkooi' meaning `duck cage'. Their greatest
popularity came in the 18th and 19th centuries when large numbers were built,
with a small number continuing in use until World War II. The ideal size for a
decoy pond was between 1ha and 5ha with a depth of water of not more than a
metre. The number of pipes varies from one to more than five, often arranged
in symmetrical patterns around the central pool. Although once common features
of lowland England (being particularly associated with the east and south east
coasts), modern drainage has modified or destroyed all but a few examples.
Most examples which survive in a near-complete state of preservation will be
considered of national importance and worthy of protection.
Details
The monument includes the remains of Skellingthorpe duck decoy, an artificial
pond designed to attract wild ducks and enable their capture. The scheduling
includes all of the earthwork and buried remains of the pond with its
associated features, together with the encircling banks, trackway and ditch.
Thought to be one of the oldest decoys in Lincolnshire, Skellingthorpe duck
decoy was in existence by 1693 when it was leased for a yearly rent of 16
pounds, 10 shillings, demonstrating the high income potential of the decoy. It
is a significant landscape feature in a 1743 engraving of the south west
prospect of Lincoln, where it is shown to be well wooded in comparison to the
surrounding treeless fen. The land around the decoy was drained and enclosed
for farmland following an 1804 Act of Parliament, and it had been the last
Lincolnshire decoy still in active use when it ceased being worked in 1840. At
about this time Decoy House was renamed Decoy Farm.
The complete layout of the decoy and its associated features survives. The
outline of the pond with its four pipes (the narrowing, curving channels down
which the ducks were lured and then driven) can be traced, with a break of
slope up to 0.75m high marking the line of the banks. Apart from a c.20m
diameter area in the north western corner redug in modern times, the pond is
now completely silted. The pond is irregular in plan, 60m-80m across, with
pipes curving from the north east, north west, south east and south west
corners and extending up to 80m in length. Encircling the pond and its pipes
is a sunken trackway up to 1.5m deep and 5m wide with a bank on either side.
This allowed the decoyman to gain rapid access to either side of the pond
without disturbing the ducks on the water. Topping the bank on the outside of
this trackway is a hedge line, with a sharp, c.1.5m deep ditch immediately
beyond and a further narrow bank up to 0.2m high forming the outermost
boundary. This encircling hedge and ditch are thought to have been placed to
deter poachers and natural predators, and was a common feature of decoys.
Access to the site was along the present trackway to the south west from Decoy
Farm, originally the decoyman's house. The track was later extended around the
eastern side of the decoy pond and now cuts across the boundary ditch on the
north west side.
Excluded from the scheduling are the modern feeding containers and all post
and wire fencing, although the ground beneath these features is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
30101
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
