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The Thatched Pond
A roof over the pond, for the ducks' sake.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Historic village pond, church, witchert walls
- Legend from
- Folk saying, 1800s
- Tone
- Light-hearted
Welcome to Haddenham, where they once thatched a pond to keep the ducks dry, and earned the name Silly Haddenham.
Haddenham families bred the big white Aylesbury duck, keeping them on the many ponds around the village. The story goes that villagers thatched over the pond by St Mary's church at Church End to keep the ducklings dry, and neighbours mocked them as Silly Haddenham. Local historians defend the idea: young ducklings can drown if their down gets soaked before their proper feathers grow, so a roof made sense. Church End pond still survives beside the church, one of three remaining village ponds, among Haddenham's witchert cottages and walls.
One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.