BECCLES 59 



boat going south is mentioned in the Saga 

 of Olaf Tryggvesson. From 960 to 975 the 

 Norwegians fished the herring with large nets 

 in the district near Christiania, and a few 

 years later the abundance of fish was so great 

 that all the coast districts of Norway were 

 swarming with them, so much so that we find 

 Snorro, the Herodotus of the North, in 978, 

 referring frequently to the herring fishery on the 

 coast of Norway and noting the abundance of 

 herring and corn as characteristic of a benefi- 

 cent reign. 



Beccles (which is not very far from Great 

 Yarmouth), at the time of King Edward the 

 Confessor paid as rent or income to the abbey 

 of Saint Edmond 80,000 herring, a number 

 increased to 60,000 in the reign of his successor. 

 A part of Beccles Fen near the river is called 

 ** Solfon," which shows that it formed a salt pan 

 for the production of salt for curing herrings. 

 The salt was obtained by the evaporation of 

 sea water. Beccles was originally a fishing 

 town; but after the reign of Henry VIII. 

 herrings ceased to be caught near the town, as 

 the sea was banked out by sea walls near Great 

 Yarmouth. 



The abbey of Saint Edmondsbury in the year 

 1286 expended £25 on herring for the monks 

 during Lent. As a fat ox was purchased for 45., 

 and as the yearly expenditure of the abbey 

 kitchen on all food, including fish, was £529, the 

 importance of the herring may be easily seen. 



