The Decoy Pond at Bournemouth

Meyrick Archive catalogue has a 1749 document relating to “House and premises at Boorn Bottom” - predates 1759 Taylor reference to Bourn House.

The 1790 sale of property to Sir George Rose (see here) mentions a "Dwellinghouse and 25 acres of heath and moorland, formerly a Decoy Pond, in Boorn Bottom", which was occupied by Edward Beak.

QUOTATION FROM ????

A decoy pond is an artificially created or modified pool of water, usually square or rectangular in outline, with one or more curving ditches called pipes leading off it. Wildfowl were encouraged onto the pond and then lured up the pipes to be netted. The pond is typically between 30m and 300m across and was constructed by digging out the original land surface to a relatively shallow depth, rarely more than 1m deep. Occasionally natural ponds or lakes were modified for use as a decoy pond.

Decoys are recognised as field monuments through their distinctive earthworks and channels, especially by the characteristic curving plan of the pipes leading from the pond. Positive identification often requires fairly intensive survey and close attention to surface topography because the ponds were generally shallow. They can also spread over a considerable area and are usually surrounded by trees or shrubs. Documentary sources also allow the identification of decoy ponds, usually through place-names, field-names and by being depicted on old maps.

Decoy ponds and the individual components that comprise them may be confused with other classes of monuments, especially those involving water management, for example, mill ponds, fishponds, ornamental ponds, and garden features. This is especially the case where the ephemeral components have become degraded or destroyed. In all cases, the classification of a monument as a decoy pond relies on the careful examination of the arrangement of the principal components represented as field evidence and, where possible, the examination of relevant historical records.

Specifically excluded from this definition of decoy ponds are all other kinds of ponds and water-filled features which may have also been used for the breeding and trapping of wildfowl. These include fishponds, canals, field ponds, ornamental ponds, and other bodies of open fresh water. Decoy ponds were constructed in medieval and post medieval times for the breeding and management of wildfowl, mostly ducks, in order to provide a constant and sustainable supply of food. As such, decoy ponds were a very valuable asset.

Decoy ponds can sometimes be dated accurately from documentary sources, but otherwise they are extremely difficult to date because they yield few datable finds or material for radiometric dating from appropriately secure contexts.

The tradition of constructing decoy ponds appears to have begun in the medieval period, although these early examples were of simple design. The earliest method of capturing ducks in England was by driving them into tunnel nets at a time when the young birds could not fly and the older ones were moulting. This practice, which was in use by the 13th century, was outlawed in 1534 after numbers became seriously depleted. Another method of duck-catching was by the use of a baited trap. Decoy ponds proper originated in Holland and were introduced into Britain during the 17th century. The name "decoy" comes from the Dutch eendenkooi meaning a duck cage.

The high-point of activity was the 18th and 19th centuries when large numbers were built. Decoy ponds remained in use until the 20th century, while some examples have been restored and are working at the present time.

The lifespan of an individual decoy pond is relatively easy to determine using documentary sources. Nyland decoy at Cheddar, Somerset, for example is first mentioned in 1668 and was out of use by 1844 (Dennison & Russett forthcoming) while Morden decoy near Wareham, Dorset, was constructed in 1724 and ceased operation in 1856 (Prendergast 1985).

The majority of decoys fell out of use during the 20th century, when the growth of duck shooting as a sport became popular. However, there are a number which are still in operation, managed by nature conservation bodies as at, for example, Boarstall (Buckinghamshire), Nacton (Suffolk), and Abbotsbury (Dorset).