Hebburn, Swyne yar' Fishery

HER Number

12272

District

S Tyneside

Site Name

Hebburn, Swyne yar' Fishery

Place

Hebburn

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

Swyne yar' in 1128, Siwineiare in 1195, Swyne yare. Could mean Sigewine's yair. 'Swin' is old English for creek or channel and pig or swine. Owned by Durham Priory. 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

430000

Northing

565000

Grid Reference

NZ430000565000

Sources

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