Late 18th century decoy pond, 'Marsh House Decoy', north-east of Marsh Road (EHER 37)

A star-shaped pond with six points or 'pipes' for decoying ducks, and constructed sometime in the late 18th century. A very small hut to the SW of the pond was used by the 'decoy-man'. The pond has been reduced from its original extent, as can be seen on the 1st ed OS map.

A star-shaped pond with six points for decoying ducks. <1> <2> <3> Decoy ponds were once a common feature of the Essex marshes, and wild-fowling was very common on the marshes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Of 31 decoy ponds in the county, the Victoria County History (VCH) records only three remaining. This decoy was still in use at the start of this century. A small hut to the SW of the pond was used by the 'decoy-man'. <4> <5> <6> In 1943, the Marsh House Decoy was the property of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. The pool was about an acre and a quarter in extent and it had six pipes. It was originally thought that this decoy was one of the oldest in Essex and was probably two hundred years old, but the historian Christy proved that it was not so ancient, having been constructed towards the end of the 18th century. Most of the duck taken in the decoy were Wigeon and other species were taken in smaller numbers. During the earlier period of this decoy the takes were much larger than in later days, when it was stated to do no more than cover expenses. There appeared to be an inter-relation between this and the neighbouring Grange Decoy (EHER 2066). One pond would keep the lead in the number of Wigeon taken for several seasons and then the other would have its turn or the ducks might desert one in favour of the other. J. Whitaker, who visited the decoy on July 19th, 1918, states that it had not been worked for three years on account of the war. <7> See aerial photograph <8>. The original extent of the six arms of the pond can be seen on the 1st ed OS map. <9> Area = 2.02 NRHE data transfer, 95200: Marsh House Decoy Pond {NAT}. <10> September 1972. Field survey. Extant and water filled. <11> NRHE data transfer, 1084740: no new information. NRHE summary description, 1084740: A decoy pond and decoyman's hut situated on the flat coastal plain of the Eastern edge of the Dengie Peninsular at Tillingham, about 1.5km West of the coast. <12>