Arctic Char, a Cumbrian delicacy (Background: Windermere and Bowness)

Daniel Defoe wrote, concerning Windermere, that it was “ … famous for the char fish found here and hereabout, and no where else in England … It is a curious fish, and, as a dainty, is potted, and sent far and near, as presents to the best friends.” 

Daniel Defoe was not quite right when he said the Char occurs nowhere else in England, as it is also to be found in neighbouring Coniston Water. The Arctic Char (or Charr) (Savelinus Alpinus)  is a brightly-coloured fish related to salmon and trout. Its range is northern, occurring only in deep glacial lakes.  In Windermere and Coniston, it is land-locked, never leaving the lakes, and spending the summer near the bottom, seeking out the cold waters. This is where local fishermen sought them out, using the method know as ‘trolling’, involving rowing slowly up and down the lake trailing very long lines, weighted down with lead, with a bell attached (which rang when the fish took the bait), and with shiny lures to attract the fish.  Once reeled in, the fish were preserved by cooking (notably at Bowness), then sealing the fish in a ceramic pot with a thick layer of butter.  This allowed the pots to be sent from one end of the country to the other, and especially to London, at a time when it the char was a delicacy much in demand in polite circles. The pots, or dishes, were generally made in Liverpool or Lancaster potteries, of delftware, decorated with brightly coloured images of the fish, and are now very much collectors’ pieces.

The Steward’s Accounts of the Duke of Monmouth show how highly prized this fish was in the early eighteenth century.  His leases of Charr Fishing on Coniston Water were worth £3 3s 0d a year to him: but much more important were the fish caught for his own table at Boughton House, Kettering, Northamptonshire - or sent by his agents to the tables of his friends in London and elsewhere.  Accounts for the years 1743 to 1748 show the duke being sent on average two pots of charr each fortnight during a season lasting from November to March – generally worth one guinea (£1 1s 0d) per pot.

The Jetty Museum, Windermere, has several char pots on display, as well as ‘trolling’ equipment.

Text by Bill Shannon

Photo of Char pot, displayed at The Jetty Museum, Windermere (photo by Bill Shannon)

References

Daniel Defoe, A tour thro’ the whole island of Great Britain… Vol III, Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland (1724-7). 

 Cumbria Archives BD BUC 49/1/5 Accounts (6) of charrs sent to the Duke of Montagu etc 1743-48