Whickham, Gump Fishery

HER Number

12254

District

Gateshead

Site Name

Whickham, Gump Fishery

Place

Whickham

Map Sheet

NZ16SE

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

Gump in 1128, Grip. Grip may allude to the fish-trap's function of gripping its prey. 'Grype' is old English for 'a ditch, trench or drain'. Owned by the bishop of Durham. 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

418400

Northing

563600

Grid Reference

NZ418400563600

Sources

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