A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



down at the Cherry Lock, are some excellent 

 roach and chub holes. Here also trout and perch 

 are taken, but large dace are the fish that most 

 abound. From Cherry Lock on to Icklingham 

 the water is shallow and difficult to fish. At the 

 three bridges, Icklingham, and the mill pool, there 

 are shoals of fine roach, chub, and dace. The 

 double lock, just above Icklingham, and the 

 Temple Lock, about a mile from Icklingham, 

 are noted places for trout and large dace ; the 

 latter are frequently taken up to I lb. in weight. 

 About half a mile beyond this is the renowned 

 Jack Tree deep, a big pool, very deep and full of 

 large roach, chub, and trout ; it also contains a few 

 perch and pike. Hence to Barton Mills bridge 

 there are not many good fishing places except 

 the road in front of the mill stream. Half a mile 

 further on is Barton Lock, with a very deep pool 

 full of roach and dace, and containing a few trout. 

 Mildenhall Gas House pool holds good trout, 

 dace, and roach ; a few yards lower down is the 

 double lock, near the mill stream, a good place 

 for trout, roach, dace, and chub. Lower down 

 the river begins to deepen, and at King's Staunch 

 there is a deep swim full of fish of all kinds. 

 West Staunch, nearly three miles lower down, 

 is famed for large perch and roach. Islehams 

 Sluice, a deep wide place, is full of roach, dace, 

 chub, and trout ; bream also come up from the 

 Ouse. Between Isleham and Duckwillow, about 

 eleven miles, are no locks nor staunches. The 

 Lark joins the Ouse at the branch bridge, and at 

 this corner are some excellent places for pike and 

 perch. 



The Thet, only a few miles long, is a good 

 river for dace, roach, and gudgeon, and trout are 

 occasionally caught. It runs into the Little 

 Ouse at Thetford Lock. 



In former times the fisheries with net, line, and 

 rod in this part of the county were of considerable 

 value. 1 Old statutes or by-laws concerning these 

 waters show how plentiful were fish in former 

 days by comparison with the present. So far back 

 as 1 1 Edward I notice was taken of the fishery 

 within the limits of Thetford. An order was 

 obtained from the mayor that fishers who took 

 pike or other fish in the common stream should 

 not sell them to strangers, but expose them for 

 sale in the town. Henry VIII and Edward VI 

 made statutes regulating the use of nets on the 

 Thet, and young fry were protected. The 

 waters had value, as witness the old deeds. On 

 12 April, 1553, William Matthew leased to 

 Robert Clop the King's Poole, or pond, and 

 reeds, &c, for twenty years, at 6s. per annum. 

 This place was behind Pitmill. On 16 June, 

 11 Elizabeth, George Mathew sold for £19 to 

 Edmund Gascoyne, mayor of Thetford, his fishery 

 called the King's Pool, &c, fourteen perches in 

 length and two in breadth. In 1682, Francis, 

 Lord Howard of Effingham, Paul Rycant of 



1 The old records of the town of Thetford. 



St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, esq., and Cuthbert 

 Browne of Stansworth, in the county of York, 

 clerk, let all their royalty of fishing in the River 

 Weste alias Ouse the Less, running through 

 Thetford from Melford Bridge to Thetford 

 Bridge, for twenty-one years at ioj. per annum. 

 Philip and Mary forbade fishing except with 

 'shove nets,' and in the same reign a close season 

 was appointed. The soaking of hemp in the 

 river was forbidden by 3 and 4 Philip and Mary, 

 except under conditions that prevented the process 

 being ' noisome.' By ancient custom the fishers 

 of Thetford were required to sell the fish taken 

 in the common river at the Bell Corner and 

 carry none to any other market, on pain of fine 

 6s. id. ; in 1 560 the penalty was increased to 

 10;. Another curious ordinance made one year's 

 residence in Thetford the qualification for any- 

 one to fish on the common days, or in the 

 common water. A close season from 1 March 

 till 30 June was prescribed by 2 Elizabeth. 



The rivers in and about Thetford, as we learn 

 from the old records of the town, yielded pike, 

 jack, or pickerel, in great plenty ' up to a yard in 

 length.' They came up in great shoals upon the 

 overflowing of the neighbouring fens at Milden- 

 hall, Methwold, Brandon, &c. ' Four score of 

 them have been taken at one throw of a casting 

 net' [sic). Fine eels of the white-bellied sort 

 were plentiful ; also lampreys, which at one time 

 the people held poisonous, ' especially so far as 

 the holes extend on either side of the head.' 

 Eel pouts were occasionally taken out of holes in 

 the banks, and these fish were accounted very 

 delicate and wholesome. Salmon and salmon 

 trout were taken here in great plenty ; perch 

 often taken by angling, carp sometimes, tench 

 very seldom ; roach, dace, and gudgeon in 

 great plenty. Bleak, we read, were taken with 

 an artificial fly. On 7 April, 1715, was taken 

 at Thetford a sturgeon weighing 13 St. 10 lb. ; 

 it was 7 ft. 8 in. long, and about 38 in. in girth ; 

 ' it had three pecks of spawn in it.' The last 

 sturgeon caught at Thetford was in April, 1737. 

 It was 7 ft. 8 in. long, weighed 13 st. ioilb., 

 and was 39 in. in girth. 



Returning to the coast line, the first river 

 south of the Waveney is the Blyth. Further 

 south is Ore, the mouth of the Butley Aide, both 

 of which are more or less open estuaries. The 

 River Deben, which is navigable to Woodbridge; 

 the Orwell and the Stour from Harwich to 

 Manningtree, are all large open estuaries. 

 From Sudbury to the sea the Stour is navigable 

 for barges. The flow is restrained by fourteen 

 locks, and at each of these there is really good 

 fishing. Above Sudbury to Clare the fishing is 

 equally good (except for bream) ; there are some 

 grand swims at Glemsford, Cavendish, Liston, 

 and Long Melford. At Rodbridge, nearer t» 

 Sudbury, is a deep and long reach full of roach 

 and jack. All the mill tails offer excellent sport 

 with dace, the fish often running from 10 oz. tr> 



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