Helperyare Fishery

HER Number

12257

District

Gateshead

Site Name

Helperyare Fishery

Place

Gateshead

Map Sheet

NZ26SE

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

Helperyare in 1344. The name could relate to a personal name such as Hialpar. 'Helpere' is old English for helper. This weir was below Gateshead Park, east of the Tyne bridge, probably in the fishery called Toulershell. 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

424000

Northing

563000

Grid Reference

NZ424000563000

Sources

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