Monument record TQ 77 NE 1339 - Post Medieval wildfowl decoy pond, High Halstow

The possible earthworks of a Post Medieval wildfowl decoy pond, visible on aerial photographs taken in 1947, are situated on Halstow Marshes by Decoy Fleet at TQ 7836 7776. Decoy ponds consist of a central pond with a number of gradually narrowing channels, known as pipes, leading away from the main body of water. The pipes would have been enclosed by nets with a screen along one side. Any birds settling on the pond could be lured along the pipes, trapped and killed. This type of decoy pond was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. This possible decoy pond can be seen as a slight depression indicating the pond, pipes and other water channels. Low earthwork banks partly define some of the pipes and part of the pond itself. This earthwork is situated immediately to the south of a good example of a decoy pond (NMR 1531023) and is not depicted on any Ordnance Survey maps. Ploughing of this area resulting in some levelling of these earthworks appears to have taken place by 1970. Lidar taken in 2001 suggests that few earthworks survive. This site was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project.(1-3)

<1> RAF, 1947, RAF CPE/UK/1923 4026 16-JAN-1947 (Photograph). SKE58814.

<2> 1970, MAL 70086 38-39 13-NOV1970 (Photograph). SKE58815.

<3> Environment Agency, 2001, LIDAR TQ7876 Environment Agency D0015756 APR-2001 (Photograph). SKE58816.