Omper Fishery

HER Number

12269

District

Gateshead

Site Name

Omper 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

Omper in 1128. 'Per' might be a misspelling of yare. 'Cuiper' from the old English 'cype-gear' meaning Kepier. Weir with kipes and osier (willow) baskets for trapping fish. An episcopal weir east of the Tyne Bridge. 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