Monument record MDO32569 - Fishery, Wareham, Wareham Town

A block of land isolated within the River Frome by a channel on its N side is shown on the 1:25-inch scale Ordnance Survey map published in 1889 and marked as 'The Fishery'. The site lies adjacent to that of the medieval castle. The site has been identified with a fishery at Wareham documented in 1327.

The `several salmon fishery in the River Frome at Wareham was possibly first mentioned in a grant to the monks of Wareham Priory in 1160, and during King Johns (1199-1216) reign. A several fishery was the property of the Crown, being severed from the ownership of the adjoining land. During the 13th and succeeding centuries the fishery is well documented, and in 1582 it passed from the Crown into private hands but the Fisheries Act of 1861 deprived the owner of the monopoly of salmon fishing here. A stone structure, 30ft long, 5ft thick and 4 1/2ft high was discovered in 1950 just south of Castle Close on a former river bed, and was identified as a 12th century weir. A large post-hole a little way out from the structure, and another substantial wall about 5 yards out in the old river bed, downstream of the first wall, also substantiated the identification. The date when the weir (or `Kidel) was abandoned is unknown but it may coincide with the making of the new river course (from SY 921870 to 922871) in the 13th century. During the succeeding centuries there are references to timber-built weirs connected with the fishery, and Hutchins states that in repairing the hoop-net weir (shown on his plan of 1767 at SY 921887) large oak posts or piles were discovered in the bottom or bed of the river, the remains of ancient wears (weirs). <2>

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch 1, Dorset L.5 Surveyed: 1887, Published: 1889 (Map). SDO10239.

'The Fishery'

Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, epoch 2, Dorset L.5 Revised: 1900, Published: 1901 (Map). SDO11594.

'The Fishery'

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1 to 25 inch scale map, 1936 (Map). SDO18020.

The Fishery (NAT)

<2> Clark, H J S, 1950, Salmon Fishery and the Weir at Wareham, 99-110 (Article in serial). SWX3036.

<2> Mills, A D, 1977, The place-names of Dorset, Part 1: the Isle of Purbeck, the hundreds of Rowbarrow, Hasler, Winfrith, Culliford Tree, Bere Regis, Barrow, Puddletown St George, 159 (Monograph). SWX972.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456710 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 28 2025 11:49AM