THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
DECOYS IN THE COUNTY OF SHROPSHIRE. | |
Decoys in use. Oakley Park. Sundorne Castle | Decoys not in use. Aston Hall. |
| Oakley Park, Bromfield, miles WNW. from Ludlow.-The Decoy here is the property of Lord Windsor, and of some antiquity, being marked in a map Of 1796. It covers an area of about five-and-twenty acres, and has four pipes. Originally there were but two pipes, but in 1834 two others were added by the late Hon. Robert Clive. The present Decoyman, who has been at Oakley about ten years, states, that the average number of ducks taken annually is from 110 to 120. His father was Decoyman before him for more than 30 years, and he says they used to take many more in the first years that his father was there, but owing to some large pool on another property above the Decoy being done away with, they did not get so many birds afterwards. Sundorne Castle, 5 miles NE. of Shrewsbury. -There is a Decoy here on the property of the Rev. J. D. Corbett. It consists of 3 pipes, attached to a lake of 30 acres, and was constructed some 100 years ago by John Corbett, the famous fox-hunter. The Decoy is 500 yards from the Castle. The takes are not large, as the Decoy is only used to supply the table of its owner. Aston Hall.-There are the remains of a four-pipe Decoy here on the estate of Colonel Richard Lloyd of Aston Hall, Oswestry. The Pool is 3 miles from Aston Hall, and 2 from Whittington. It is placed in an angle between the River Perry and the Ellesmere Canal, on part of a large tract of marsh land known as Baggy (or Boggy) Moor, and through which the River Perry flows. The Decoy is a quarter of a mile distant from both the canal and the river. Its age is about 200 years, but it has not been in use for the last 80. It was made by Thomas Lloyd, Esq., of Aston, who died in 1692. The pool consists of 1 acre, 2 roods, 6 perches. There are no records of its successes. In the Aston pedigree the following note occurs on the page which records the death of Thomas Lloyd, the constructor of the Decoy :- | |
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