River fisheries

Fish hooks (c.1400) and shuttle (c.1500) for mending nets, from Fountains Abbey
© Cistercians in Yorkshire
<click to enlarge>

In the twelfth century Fountains acquired fisheries and fishing rights at Derwentwater and Malham Tarn, and along the rivers Swale, Wiske and Derwent, Ouse and Ure.(11) The community had two fishermen, two boats and a net on the River Ure. (12) In the late twelfth century Fountains acquired the right to make two fisheries at Eston, near Guisborough.(13) This was granted by the magnate, Stephen de Meinell, on the understanding that in return for his generosity, he might enter the community during his lifetime or be buried there following his death. Should he not die as a monk of Fountains, Stephen wished, nonetheless, that his soul would be provided for as for a monk of the house.(14)

Fountains also had river fisheries at Balderby, on the Wharfe, where salmon was fished and transported to the abbey. The 'Bursar's Account Book' records that in 1456, 22d was spent on transporting two horse-loads of salmon from Balderby to the abbey.(15)

How was fish kept fresh during transportation?
Before fish was transported it was packed in either wet grass or straw. This kept it fresh for up to twelve hours. As an added precaution the fish might also be dunked in freshwater en route.

[Bond, Monastic Landscapes, p. 207]

A grant of fishing rights did not simply mean permission to fish in the area, but might include free movement of passage for the community's boats, the right to build a fishpond or to take stones and turf for the upkeep and repair of the fisheries. It might also include a house where the lay-brothers could stay, and where fish could be stored, dried and salted. (16)