DOWSBY DECOY - “……….towards Sleaford, we soon get to another group of six old Decoys, all within three miles NE of Dowsby, the most southern of which is the famous Dowsby Decoy”
Dowsby Decoy was owned by the Rev. Thomas Foster of Ryhall who took 12,908 ducks in one season. The Rev. William Daniels in his book “Rural Sports” recorded the following:
Wildfowl caught in Dowsby Decoy from October 1st 1765 to April 1st 1766:
13008 birds , sold to Mrs Gibbs of Langtoft at 7s. a dozen 379 £ 8 s.
11 dozen (132) birds sold at Decoy 5£ 8s 10d
20 couples sold to Mr.Dodd 1£ 10s
Total 386 £ 6 s 10d
The total number of fowl sold was 13,180.
ASLACKBY DECOY – is located within a mile NE of Dowsby Decoy and this was an octagonal double-ditched enclosure around a start shaped pond with eight decoy pipes. This is apparently still traceable, especially in dry weather when the outline can be seen. An eight pipe decoy would have required great effort and wealth to enable it to be built. A mile farther north of Aslackby were at least four more smaller decoys close together the most eastern of which was Millyard Farm Decoy a farm site that can still be identified.
600 DECOY – South Kyme. If you drive along the A17 from Swineshead Bridge towards Heckington whilst references to the Decoy can be found all that survives is the farm name. The name was derived from the number of acres of the farm it occupied which would be a substantial size for that era.
An old “antiquarian” character William Hall sometimes called “Fen Bill Hall” was born at Willow Booth, then a small island of a few perches in the parish of South Kyme described the area of his birth in rhyme:
Kyme God knows,
Where no corn grows,
Nothing but a little hay,
And water comes,
And takes it all away.
He described the Six Hundred Decoy , “…the pond , about three acres of water, well sheltered and distant from disturbance, became so great an asylum, that I have heard divers decoymen say it was apparently impossible for an egg to be dropped without hitting one.” In other words such was the abundance of nests.
NORTH KYME DECOY - Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey identified this as being 3 miles NNW of 600’s Farm and 2 miles SSE of Billinghay this decoy disappeared in the nineteenth century but a farmstead was built on the site which can be identified by Decoy House on North Kyme Fen.
Timberland Decoy was located at the eastern end of Timberland Fen. The above plan is based upon an aerial photograph of crop marks taken br Mr Roger Wilson of Coningsby in August 1989 when a prolonged dry spell made this visible. The farm at that time was owned by Mr D.W. Harrison of Timberland Fen. The photo showing these crop markings can be found in the Lincolnshire Life Magazine dated January 1990.
NOCTON HALL DECOY – going closer to Lincoln, 8 miles SE of the city, on the estate of the Marquis of Ripon was Nocton Hall Decoy. This was a five pipe decoy with a 2 acre pond set in a 14 acre ash wood. Its peak usage was around 1810 when large numbers were captured there. By 1886 it had fallen into disuse with just the pond and wood remaining, but it still attracted ducks with up to 200 or so being seen on the pond at times. Up to 1947 the remnants of the wood remained with the site being marked by a farm with the name, “Decoy Farm”. No wood remains and the area is largely featureless land. However, I did see two shovellers take off from the drain adjacent to the site once when I visited the area.
SKELLINGTHORPE DECOY – this was located 2 miles West of Lincoln and a mile SSE of Skellingthorpe. This decoy was a square pond with four pipes and was last used in the 1840.
White’s directory of 1856 reveals the fate of the decoy resulting from drainage:
“Skellingthorpe is a scattered but well-built and pleasant village, near Hykeham Station , 4 miles West of Lincoln and its parish contains 584 souls., and having several extensive plantations and fertile and well-drained marshes. Two small steam engines have been erected near the Decoy farm to pump off the water in time of floods. The farms are highly cultivated so they have generally excellent houses and outbuildings. The large reservoir that supplies Lincoln Water Works is in the parish. The manor with a large estate here, was bequeathed, in 1763, by Henry Stone Esq. to Christs Hospital in London including the farm called Decoy Lounds and Stone’s Place.”
Skellingthorpe decoy was the larger of three decoys in the area with two smaller ones located at Burton near Lincoln and all three were thought to have been built in the 17th century. In 1693 it was leased for a yearly rent of £10 10s.
The decoys of Skellingthorpe and Burton were highly successful with birds being passed to the London market especially during the Napoleonic blockades starting in 1806. “In connection with the Ducks caught in these Decoys, it is said that certain epicures in London claimed to be able to tell by the flavour of the birds whether they were caught at Burton all at Skellingthorpe.”
The last decoyman that worked the site in 1840 was Mr Benjamin Johnson.
Just north of Burton Decoys was Carlton Decoy a small two pipe decoy that was thought to have been built by the Monson family around 1720. It was abandoned around 1810 and any remaining marks identifying the site were ploughed out during World War 2.
ASHBY DECOY
Ashby Decoy was the last surviving used decoy in Lincolnshire and has been very well documented and was fairly well preserved after its use by the good fortune of the land becoming Scunthorpe Golf Course. When I visited in 1992, despite being given permission to access beforehand I was denied permission to enter and take photographs. However, I did have an interesting conversation at the time and was told that the ponds remained at part and even some of the hoops and remnants of bits of net could be found.
Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey in 1896 wrote:
Here may be the most successful existing Decoy in the kingdom, and the only one now working in Lincolnshire. It was lately owned by Captain Healy (whose father, Mr. Henry Healy, constructed it), but upon his death in 1868 it was offered for sale, and was purchased by old Mr Tracey (lately deceased), the father of Mr George Tracey, who owns it. The extent of the pool is about 2 acres, and it has four pipes.
1833- 1868 averages 2741 head of fowl per annum.
The Decoy is well kept and managed as is likely to be the case, for its tenant states it pays him better than the farm attached to it.
1833-68 the Decoy has accounted for nearly 100,000 wildfowl in thirtyfive seasons, consisting of
Wild duck 48,664 Shoveller 285
Teal 44,568 Pintail 278
Wigeon 2,019 Gadwall 22
Grand total 95,836
In 1918 the owner of Ashby Decoy was Mr F King and it was tenanted by Mr Noel Fawcett. The pond was still described as 2 acres in a wood of 10 acres. Noel Fawcett advised Mr Whitaker for his 1918 book that the proportion of duck captured were now three quarters common wild duck (mallard) and one quarter teal. “In later years the best day’s take was 248, of which number 113 mallard were taken at one drive.
J Whitaker F.Z.S. gave the following account of his visit to Ashby Decoy:
“The owner of this famous decoy, Mr. King, having kindly asked me to run over and have a look at it, I need hardly say I jumped at the kind invitation, and a friend almost as keen to motor me there, we left home by 10am, and were soon passing the entrance of the beautiful old abbey of Rufford, where King Edward stayed so often for the Doncaster St. Leger. The sun was shining, and the grand old trees and shrubs have never looked so beautiful. On through Ollerton to Retford, where after a warm up and a short rest we ran on to Gainsborough, where we were charged 1s.8d. for bridge toll over the River Trent. After passing through the town, we came to Scotter and Messingham, and sinking the steeping hill, arrived at the decoy house and a hearty welcome from Mr King. He told us that the decoy was frozen, but he would take us to the screens to have a look at the ducks. The water at this celebrated decoy is about 2 acres in extent, and lies in a wood of 10 acres. The trees – oak, birch and alders – grow down the bank., and some are high ones. There are four pipes. In this decoy between the seasons 1833-34 and 1867-68 were taken 95,865 ducks of seven different kinds. I also noticed in the list were twenty-nine garganey, taken ……….
…Garganeys are rare, not being a winter bird, are seldom taken, makes this a most interesting list. During the thirty-five years only twenty-two gadwall were caught. This clearly shows they are far from common.
The decoy is about a couple of hundred yards from the house, and is about 2 miles from the banks of the Trent. Near the river there is a good lot of warped land, which is made land, and is done in the following way: The high tide is let over the fields, and whenthe sediment has settled, it is run off at low water. This is continued until there is sufficient deposit, which is very productive, being greatly composed of vegetable matter, and grows large crops of mangolds and potatoes. Mr King informed me they generally warp 4 feet, but he has known as much as 10 feet put on, but, of course, it depends on the lie of the land, so parts only wanting 2 feet or so. These floodings attract great numbers of wildfowl, who frequent them to feed at night, resting by day on the waters of the decoy. After crossing the meadow in which the house stands, we passed over a plank and entered the wood, and were soon on the screens. On peeping through I saw a great company of wildfowl standing on the ice. They were in two lots, and Mr. King estimated the number about 700. They were principally common wild ducks, but there were a good few teal and some wigeon, and a very beautiful sight it was, their bright plumage showing up under the brilliant sunshine. I could have remained for hours, and my thoughts went back to the olden days when, instead of hundreds, probably there were thousands, for flocks of many thousands were oftenseen passing over from one part of the fen to another, and an old friend of Mr. King’s told me he remembers years back 2.200 ducks being taken at Ashby in thirty-one days. After tearing myself away from the reed screens I walked down the side of the pipe, and so to the house. In the hall Mr. King pointed out to me a case containing a stuffed dog, and informed me it was one of Mr. Healy’s. It was a long low foxy-coloured animal with an abnormally bushy tail. It interested me much, and I wondered how many ducks it had enticed to their doom. Outside was a stone to another favourite, and on it in Latin inscription, which translated read thus:-
MOSSIE
Amongst Dogs the Most Beloved
Departed this life
1848
This Monument was placed in her Memory
By
H.H.
On top of the stone slab is a dog very beautifully carved. The stone had only lately been discovered, having been used to cover a drain, but will now be taken care of. The Ashby Decoy is now rented by Mr Noel Fawcett. The pipes are 75 yards long, 16 feet wide at the entrance, and 14 feet at arch, and are covered with string netting; four in number, in good working order. The screens are reed 6 feet high.”
Other Decoys in North Lincolnshire tended to be close to the coast with one at Crowle and Laceby Decoys having no trace today. Coming down the coast two miles south-east of Alford on Farlesthorpe Fen was Farlesthorpe Decoy. It is as we come to The Wash that we encounter what was perhaps the largest group of Decoys in Britain in the areas of Wainfleet and Friskney on the East and Wildmore Fens.
note I have rationed the illustrations to these sections on Decoys more details and maps are held in the draft book.
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