1 68 LAKES AND RIVERS, 



abundantly stocked with salmon. In Domesday 

 Book, at the time of the Norman conquest, when a 

 survey of the fisheries of the country was taken, there 

 were " established fisheries on this river, some be- 

 longing to religious houses, and others to private 

 manors. There was one fishery at this time some 

 miles above Chester, employing six fishermen and 

 yielding one thousand salmon, but this became ex- 

 hausted." 



Other fisheries were on the Dee at this period. 

 St. Giles's hospital for lepers was founded and given 

 "three stalls in Dee, under the seal of Chester Ex- 

 chequer." The privileges of this hospital were con- 

 firmed by Hugh Kevelior and Edward III. Among 

 these privileges they claimed " one salmon from every 

 horseload or cartload of salmon brought to the 

 Chester market, and to have also one boat with a 

 fisherman, above or below Dee bridge, with stallnette, 

 flotenette, or dragnette, or any other kind of nette, 

 night and day, and three stalls in Dee, called single- 

 line stalls." And the old Chester Cathedral, the 

 Abbey of St. Werbergh's, was found at the time of 

 making the Domesday survey to possess fisheries in 

 Dee ; and when the Conqueror gave to Hugh Lupus 

 the earldom of Chester, Hugh, by charter, bestowed 

 upon the monks of St. Werbergh's, over and above 

 their own fisheries, a tenth of all fish taken in the 

 Dee. And Hugh Lupus gave fisheries to others as 

 to the monks. 



A law was made, locally called the " Ould custom 

 and law of Chester, to the effect that the stall -netts 

 in the water of Dee were not to exceed the size of 



