The Boarstall Duck Decoy is a 17th-century
duck decoy located in
Boarstall
Boarstall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about west of Aylesbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about southeast of the Oxfordshire market town of Bice ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
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England, and now a
National Trust property. The system took advantage of a two-acre lake with pipe-cage tunnels running out of it.
At one time a common sight in the English countryside, only four duck decoys now remain. The Boarstall Duck Decoy is still in working order, and is surrounded by of natural
woodland.
The intent of the decoy was to catch large numbers of
waterfowl. A
decoy or fake duck was used to attract birds onto a small patch of water. The pond was equipped with a long cone-shaped
wickerwork tunnel. A "decoyman" with a trained dog then herded the birds into the tunnel. Once the birds had been trapped in the tunnel, they could then be caught as required. Originally, the birds trapped here were a source of food. The advantage over simply shooting the birds was that ducks caught by this method did not have pellets or lead shot in their bodies that would have to be removed prior to consumption, allowing them to command higher prices. Today, the National Trust organise demonstrations, and any birds caught are
ringed for
ornithological study. One duck apparently traveled as far away as Turkey.
References
External links
Boarstall Duck Decoy information at the National Trust
National Trust properties in Buckinghamshire
Tourist attractions in Buckinghamshire
Decoys
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