Courtyar Fishery

HER Number

12235

District

S Tyneside

Site Name

Courtyar Fishery

Place

Jarrow

Map Sheet

NZ36NW

Class

Agriculture and Subsistence

Site Type: Broad

Fishing Site

Site Type: Specific

Fish Weir

General Period

MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Medieval 1066 to 1540

Form of Evidence

Documentary Evidence

Description

Courtyar from 1438-9. 'Cort(e)' means 'a short plot of ground' or 'a piece of land cut off' in old English. 'Cort' also means 'short' and 'court' means 'manor'. More likely 'corte' means hurdle or fence. The main catch would have been salmon, but in fact a wider range of fish would have been taken (eg. Eels, pike, minnow, burbot, trout and lamprey' {G.N. Garmondsway (ed), 1939, 'Aelfric's Colloquy', pp 101-2}.

Easting

432600

Northing

565900

Grid Reference

NZ432600565900

Sources

Victor Watts, 1986, Some Northumbrian Fishery Names II in Durham Archaeological Journal, 2, 1986, pp 55-61