England's Historic Seascapes: Scarborough to Hartlepool
Cornwall Council, 2007. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000201. How to cite using this DOI
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- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000201
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction | Seascapes Character Types
Fish Processing
- Introduction: defining/distinguishing attributes and principal locations
- Historical processes; components, features and variability
- Values and perceptions
- Research, amenity and education
- Condition & forces for change
- Rarity and vulnerability
- Sources
Introduction: defining/distinguishing attributes and principal locations
The Type Fish Processing includes the following sub-types:
- Fish markets;
- Fish processing areas;
- Fish storage sheds,
Components of this Type include:
- fish quays and wharfs;
- storage sheds;
- ice house;
- fish drying, salting and barrelling areas.
Fish processing facilities are principally located in the fishing harbours and ports of Scarborough, Whitby, and the fishing towns of Robin Hood's Bay, Staithes and on South Gare Breakwater.
Historical processes; components, features and variability
The preservation, storage and sale of the fish landed at the various fishing ports and harbours have long been vital components to the fishing industry in this area. Ancient methods of preserving fish included drying, salting, pickling and smoking. All are still used today, but the more modern techniques of freezing and canning have taken on greater importance. Almost every Yorkshire coastal community salt-cured fish in the 18th century (Starkey et al 2000, 93). A proportion of the catch of cod and other species from the deep-water grounds of the North Sea was dry salted on the shore, and later sold for consumption in south European markets, especially in Spain, or sent coastwise to ports along the east coast of England. Though the Yorkshire coast was the largest English producer of salt dried cod in the late 18th century, its output was dwarfed by that of Shetland. This was partly because much of the Yorkshire catch was sold fresh to inland towns and cities, notably in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and even to Manchester. Although Shetland's output was higher, its quality was poorer (Starkey et al 2000, 72-73).
Most herring was preserved in salt or ice. Scottish fisherwomen followed the Scottish fishermen who caught and landed herring, and were an annual sight on this coast (Figure 9.34). Primarily working in teams of three accompanied by two male coopers they moved from harbour to harbour gutting and salting the herrings as they came in.
Figure 9.34. Herring Lassies (1930s) (© Whitby Museum)
After salting or icing the fish were packed into barrels, generally by men. When the barrel was filled, paper, straw or sackcloth provided a covering which was then fastened with a hoop. The barrels were then bought up by wholesalers and middlemen and dispatched by rail. Not all herring were preserved in this way, however. A substantial number were kippered using woodsmoke. Kipper houses were established at Tate Hill Pier at Whitby in 1832, and the interior of one of these was clearly illustrated in an 1838 painting by the artist Mary Ellen Best. In kippering the fish are split, gutted, washed, dipped in brine and fixed to sharp hooks on battens running up the roof of the kipper house. When the space is full oak chips and sawdust are set to smoulder on the floor below. All holes and doorways are blocked and the fish are steeped for 12 hours in the thick smoke. Kippering preserves the fish for long periods as well as giving it a good flavour. Even today in Whitby, Fortune's Kipper House in Henrietta Street still uses this traditional method (White 2004, 116).
Fisherwomen played vitally important roles in the preparation and preservation processes of the fishing industry. Their work was carried out to a large extent inside the home itself. The women's chief responsibility was to prepare (and very often, gather, too) the bait. The scale of this work was enormous. Prodigious quantities of bait were used every year. Once gathered the limpets ('flithers') or mussels had to be taken home and skaned, removal of the soft part, the actual bait, from the shell. Caving (clearing the line of old bait, seaweed, and other rubbish) was also done at home (Frank 2002, 156-7, 165-8).
Ice was another important preservation method for keeping fish fresh and was one of the primary factors which enabled fishermen to venture further offshore and expand their catches. In the past, fishing vessels were restricted in range by the simple consideration that the catch must be returned to port before it spoils and becomes worthless. The development of refrigeration and freezing technologies transformed the commercial fishing industry: fishing vessels could be larger, spend more time away from port and therefore access fish stocks at a much greater distance. Refrigeration and freezing also allow the catch to be distributed to markets further inland, reaching customers who previously would have had access only to dried or salted sea fish. An ice house is still in operation on Scarborough's West Pier.
An additional component of fishing is adequate preservation and storage facilities for both the fish and the fishing equipment (nets, lines and pots). Fish houses and sheds have been recorded at Scarborough, Whitby and Staithes. Fishermen's sheds are still used today in some places and can be found on West Pier at Scarborough, informally at Skinningrove and on South Gare Breakwater (Figure 9.35).
Figure 9.35. Fishermen's sheds, South Gare Breakwater
At the weekends the nets of many of the boats were often taken to a field and spread out to dry, whilst others suspended their nets on a pole high above the deck and extending across between the two masts. Others took their nets for treatment to the 'barking coppers' - the cotton nets needed to be treated against bacterial action and the usual method was to soak them in a solution of cutch, a process known as barking (Tindale 1987, 81).
Around the 1830s, with the introduction of steam packets and increased interest in herring from the French, domestic merchants also began to recognise the fishery's potential, and expansion of shore-based support for the industry really took off from the autumn of 1833 with the formation of the Whitby Herring Company. As early as the summer of 1834, Whitby harbour was said to be busier than ever, with boats visiting from as far afield as Cromer, Hastings and Yarmouth (Starkey et al 2000, 93). Until then, fishermen had sold their catches themselves, without the intervention of a salesman, using a method akin to the Dutch auction.
The procedure adopted at Hastings in the early 19th century and outlined below was typical of scenes all round the coast of England. The catch was sorted into heaps on the beach according to species, and the fisherman would stand behind one of the heaps holding a pebble in his hand. When the potential buyers had assembled, he shouted out a price which, as everyone knew, was more than the fish were worth. So, progressively lowering the price, he simultaneously lowered his arm until someone among the crowd accepted the price named, whereupon the fisherman dropped the pebble and the sale was concluded. It was the custom on the north-east coast for the buyer at this point in the proceedings to cry out 'Het!', which he believed to be the contraction of 'I'll have it', or, as it would be pronounced in those districts, 'I'll hev it' It was an expression used at Hartlepool, north of the Tees; and at Flamborough (Frank 2002, 174).
Figure 9.36. Fish Quay, Hartlepool (© Hartlepool Arts & Museum Service)
The fish market was of considerable importance to the economy of these fishing communities, being the means by which the fishermen sold their catch to the dealers and middlemen. There have, of course, always been fishermen who have sold some or all of their catch direct to the public, as they still do on Redcar Sands. These fish markets took place either at specific market places (eg at Scarborough, Whitby, and Redcar) or on the wharfs and quays upon which the fish were landed (eg Fish Quay at Hartlepool, Figure 9.36) (White 2004, 118-9). There was always a race to be the first to reach the fish market after a catch was made in order to obtain the top prices for the fish. An army of buyers usually awaited at the markets on the piers and wharfs (Tindale, 1987:80).
Annual fish fairs (eg at Scarborough or Staithes) afforded not only the opportunity to sell fish, but also to express the spirit of community in a more or less uninhibited fashion. Crews were re-arranged, family differences patched up, half-yearly accounts settled, quarrels resolved, and matrimonial matches made (Frank 2002, 205). During late medieval times Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen and was host to a huge forty-five day fish fair held on the sands, starting 15 August. People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to engage in business. The traditional 'Scarborough Fair' no longer exists but a number of low key celebrations take place every September to mark the original event. This fair is commemorated in the famous song 'Scarborough Fair' (Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society 2003, 43).
Values and Perceptions
The cumulative effects of the life lived by fisher men and women were frequently ill-health and premature death. They had to endure irregular hours, exposure to bitter weather and stormy seas, and much standing, lifting and carrying of heavy burdens. It was a style of life accepted sometimes consciously and by choice, but often fatalistically and with a sense of inevitability (Frank 2002, 172).
There is still a sense of continuity within some of these communities of kippering, salting and curing.
Research, amenity and education
Well documented in terms of paintings and historic photographs, e.g. Frank Sutcliff's collections, although these do tend to romanticise what was essentially hard life and a dangerous industry.
Condition & forces for change
As more modern techniques of fish preservation, such as freezing and canning, have taken on increasing importance, so the facilites where these processes are carried out have tended to move away from the quaysides and the piers, and instead fish is often transported straight from the boats to factories elswhere.
Where old facilities do survive, some are either still in use or are being re-used for other purposes, others in ruins; Listing and conservation should be a priority.
Rarity and vulnerability
Remains tend to be fairly rare. Some of the historic structures are protected through being designated Listed Buildings.
Recommendations
Because of their rarity, any surviving remains would therefore benefit from Listing or Scheduling. Involving local communities in any restoration or preservation activities would encourage appreciation and understanding of these facilities.
Further historical and archaeological research would improve understanding and raise awareness of this Type. Sustainable uses should be found for any surviving structures; reuse should incorporate as much of extant structures as possible. Abandoned and ruinous historic features should be taken into consideration during any proposed development.
Sources
Publications:
Dr W. Hodgson 1957. The Herring and its Fishery, referred to in Tindale, J, 1987. Fishing out of Whitby. Dalesman Books
Frank, P, 2002. Yorkshire Fisherfolk, Philmore, Bodmin
Scarborough Archaeological & Historical Society, 2003. A guide to historic Scarborough.
Starkey et al, 2000. England's Sea Fisheries. The Commercial Sea Fisheries of England and Wales since 1300. Chatham Publishing. London.
Tindale, J. 1987. Fishing out of Whitby
White, A, 2004. A History of Whitby. Phillimore, Bodmin
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Fair
