Hale Duck Decoy Nature Reserve

The Duck Decoy at Hale is an impressive, complex monument, now a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It lies in the lowest part of the landscape, amongst streams and wetlands and close the the River Mersey itself.This part of the manor of Hale was drained in the medieval period, with the idea of increasing the amount of land suitable to plough. The trade-off was a reduction in land that wetland wildfowl could use. To counter this, the duck decoy was built.Hale Decoy was designed to look like the many other coverts that dotted the landscape. The lack of shelter for water birds would make it an attractive spot. A pond was dug in the centre to complete the picture.

Spread over an area of 3,084 hectares, the Hale Duck Decoy is a duck decoy and nature reserve. It is not known exactly when the duck decoys were built, but it's thought that they date back to the 1600s. Today, the woodland and marsh are home to various species of wildlife such as otters and kingfishers. The historic significance of the duck decoys led the site to be placed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk list in November 2018.