Mid 19th century decoy pond, 'Lion Point Decoy', south-east of Cockett Wick Farm (EHER 16881)

An elongated decoy known as Lion Point Decoy, designed for trapping pochard. The decoy takes the shape of a rectangular pond, some 100 metres by 25 metres, with a single curving arm at its north western corner and enclosed by a rectangular ditch. The pond is dug approximately 1 metre below ground level and contains a small amount of water. The water-filled enclosing ditch is linked to the decoy by a single drain connecting their south eastern sides. The long sides of the decoy between the pond and enclosing ditch are flanked by substantial banks some 2 metres high, probably formed from the upcast of the pond and used to conceal the decoymen during operation. Scheduled.

Information from NRHE data transfer merged with original HER entry. Duck decoy pond - rectangular with one curving arm set within an approximately rectangular enclosure. <1> <2> See aerial photographs <3> - <6>. Lion Point Decoy lies on Cockett Wick Farm in the Wick Marshes, half a mile from Old Lion Point, two miles S.S.E. from St. Osyth and two and a half miles east of Colne Point. By reason of its position the pool was also known as Wick Decoy. Payne-Gallwey states that it was made by the late Mr. George Simpson in 1860, but never worked, and was in 1886 the property of Sir J. H. Johnson. <7> 1998. Site visit. Visited as part of the Monuments Protection Programme (MPP) additional scheduling programme. Not worked withing living memory, the decoy is thought to have been constructed around 1860; it certainly appears on an Ordnance Survey 6 inch map of 1874. <8> <9> Site Assessment: There was a second and completely different kind of decoy, which was designed for capturing pochards. The pochards is a diving bird, so were rarely caught in pipes because they did not rise when the decoymen appeared. They were instead caught by means of nets fixed to long poles which were weighed down. When the pochard took off into the wind at dusk, or were disturbed by the discharge of a gun, the poles and nets were released so they sprang upright. The pochards hit the net, fell into pens or trenches at the bottom, and were secured. The decoy at Cockett Wick Farm, known as Lion Point Decoy, is a rare example of a rectangular pochard pond, dating from the mid-nineteenth century, surviving in good condition. The pond survives well, as does its single curving pipe and enclosed ditch. The history of pochard ponds is more obscure than that of ordinary decoys; there may well have been a great number of them within the Essex marshland as documentary evidence suggests that they were as productive as the usual type and would therefore have made a significant contribution to the marshland economy during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Although we know of several other decoys in Essex which could be furnished with nets on poles to catch pochards this is the only known surviving example of a specialised pochard pond. <9> September 1999. Scheduled Ancient Monument. The monument includes an elongated decoy, designed for trapping pochard, located some 700m south east of Cockett Wick Farm and 500m inland from the beach at Lion Point. The decoy takes the shape of a rectangular pond, some 100m by 25m, with a single curving arm at its north-western corner and enclosed by a rectangular ditch. The pond is dug down approximately 1m below ground level and contains a small amount of water. The water-filled enclosed ditch is linked to the decoy by a single drain connecting their south eastern sides. The long sides of the decoy, in between the pond and enclosed ditch, are flanked by substantial banks some 2m high, no doubt formed from the upcast of the pond, and used to conceal the decoymen during operation. <10>