Fish was an important part of the monastic diet,
especially during Advent and Lent, when the use of animal fat, eggs,
milk and milk products was either prohibited or restricted. Fountains,
like other Cistercian communities therefore required a considerable
amount of fish to provide for the monks and lay-brothers
of the house, as well as for guests.Accordingly, the community
secured rights to fish in rivers and along the coast, for example
at Tessmouth, and the monks created fish ponds (stews) for freshwater
fish. Several of these ponds are recorded in the inventory taken
at the Dissolution and include 'Pondgarth', within the precinct,
and two ponds known as 'Great Dene' and 'Little Dene' in Fountains
Park.(1) Fish ponds within
the abbey precinct were generally used for storage rather than for
breeding.(2)
A festive occasion
When the Duke of York visited Swanley grange in 1457 Abbot Greenwell
served him fish bought from Dan Henry, that had cost 2s 8d.
['Bursar's Book', Memorials of Fountains III, p. 15.]
Gifts of fish were also received from benefactors,
as well as from tenants, as part of the rental agreement. In addition,
the community bought fish at markets. In the fifteenth century stockfish,
often known as 'Icelandic fish', was bought at Hull, York and Scarborough.
This was salt cod or ling that was usually salt-dried and imported
from Iceland and Norway.(3)
The accounts for 1457-1458 reveal that 13s 4d was spent on stockfish
that year.(4)
