Whickham, Haliwerestem Fishery

Haliwerestem in 1128, Heli werestem. Stem may be a mistake for 'stream'. 'Halig-wer' is old English for saint. It would then be Halig-weres stream - St. Cuthbert's fishery. 'Stefn or stem' is old English for 'dam' and 'stemma' means to stem, stop or dam up, especially a stream. 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}.