THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
| Traces of four pipes are still to be seen, but the wood in which the Decoy was situated has been thoroughly drained, and so thickly planted, that traces of this formerly large and successful Decoy are now hard to find. It has not been in use for 60 years, and is placed partly in Peasmarsh and partly in Beckley parish, south of the River Rother, on the property of Mrs. Pomfret. | |
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DECOYS IN THE COUNTY OF WARWICK. | |
Decoys in use. Packington Hall. | Decoys not in use. Combe Abbey. |
| Packington Hall, 3½ miles SSE. of Coleshill. At one end of a pool of 30 acres a Decoy with four pipes was constructed by Williams of Wrangle, in 1795. I am informed that the average catch for the last twenty years has been about 140 head; but the Decoy is only worked to supply the owner's wants. It is the property of the Earl of Aylesford. Combe Abbey, 5¼ miles E. of Coventry. In the year 1845 a first-class Decoy was constructed here by William Skelton. It has four pipes, and is placed close to the mansion, and is surrounded by several acres of osiers and reeds, with a mixture of spruce and other trees. The largest take in one year was 1,500 head, but of late years the number of fowl taken has been much smaller. At the present time it is not worked, the lessee, Mr. Loyd, having recently, removed the nets from the pipes, and expressed his intention of not using the Decoy during the continuance of his lease, which expires in 1889. There is an extensive lake at Combe much frequented by wildfowl, and the Decoy in consequence formerly did well, though, like all other Decoys, it fell off in its takes of late seasons. T. Gilbert Skelton, son of William Skelton, told me he recollected his father, aided by himself, once catching 106 Ducks at a drive in one of the pipes of this Decoy, in the presence of the late Earls of Craven, and Sefton. This statement is confirmed by Mr. R. W. Craven. | |
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