MALLARD. 163 
statement as to the position of the decoy, it is probable 
that Sir William Brereton owned some property at 
Dodleston, as he made the place his headquarters 
when opposing the King’s forces in South Cheshire 
in 1645.1 
Coward visited the Decoy Farm on October 22nd, 
1898. It stands in Lache Lane, about half a mile 
on the Chester side of Balderton Bridge, and about 
two miles from Dodleston. A small pond, partially 
filled with reeds, in a field behind the farm, may be 
the site of the decoy; but though there are some 
curious depressions radiating from the pond, they are 
hardly well enough defined to warrant the supposition 
that they are remains of the old pipes. Two of these 
depressions, running from the pond on the south side 
and gradually tapering, extend for about a hundred 
and fifty yards into the field, their extremities 
curving away from each other. The surrounding 
fields have been extensively drained, and the traces 
of trenches cut for this purpose are visible all round 
the pond. Mrs. Morris, the present occupier of 
the farm, informed Coward that old men in the district 
could well remember the time when the tide, running 
over Saltney Marsh, reached the adjoining fields a few 
hundred yards distant from the farm. Even now, when 
these fields are flooded in winter, large numbers of 
Ducks frequently come up from the Dee Estuary. The 
name ‘Decoy Farm’ is almost obsolete, and is only used 
upon official documents. 
1 Hanshall, History of Cheshire, p. 38. 
