THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
| In this covenant the Decoy is alluded to as an ancient one. Aller.-A mile W. of Langport, north of the River Parrot, from which it is distant a quarter of a mile, and south of King's Sedgemoor, there was formerly a Decoy, on land known as Aller Moor, then the property of Sir Alexander Hood. It had originally six pipes, subsequently reduced to four, and the pool was between one and two acres in extent. It was given up about 20 years ago in consequence of the continued decrease of fowl owing to the cultivation of waste land in the neighbourhood, and its proximity to the railway, from Yeovil to Durston. The trees and brushwood have been cleared away, and the ground is now open like the rest of the surrounding moor, the pond alone remaining, and that reduced in size. At one time this Decoy was carefully looked after, and was very productive. The widow of a former lessee, now aged 86, states that she well remembers her husband getting sometimes 20 dozen fowl in a day, and that " hagglers " used to come from all parts and sometimes paid £20, for what they carried off. Another old resident in the parish recollects as a boy seeing the Decoy covered with wildfowl " like the dressing spread over a field." He had seen cartloads carried away, and passing to or from the Decoy could often see 1,000 Ducks over his head. The present rector of Aller, the Rev. J. G. Nicholson, who kindly favoured me with this information, adds that he remembers seeing the Decoy in 1858, when it was still worked, but its yield had then greatly declined. It is now numbered with things of the past. Godney.-On a farm in the hamlet of Godney, 3½ miles NW. of Glastonbury, in the parish of that name, and belonging to Mr. Sherston of Evercreech, is a field on Godney Moor which is known as " The Old Decoy." Tradition points to the former existence here of a Decoy, of which nothing but the name remains ' : and, in reply to my inquiries, Mr. Sherston was unable to supply any information concerning it. Westbury Decoy, 1½ miles W. of Westbury, on the N. bank of the Axe.-This Decoy is placed within 400 paces of the Stoke Decoy, on its SE. side in the direction of Wells. The two pools of Westbury and Stoke being so close together, are alluded to as one Decoy, by Collinson ("Hist. Somerset," iii. P. 417, 1791) who writes-" Westbury is pleasantly situated under the southern ridge of the Mendips, 4 miles from Wells, and on the road thence to Axbridge. | |
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