Day 2 of our weekend away was beautifully warm and bright. After a delicious breakfast we set off for Abbotsbury swannery. I'd never heard of a swannery before so I was interested to find out more. It all started with the Benedictine Monastery of St Peter being founded at Abbotsbury in the 11 century. Like all monasteries it had to be self sufficient and so the monks grew vegetable and caught fish. In addition from about 1393 they farmed the swans on the Fleet lagoon and this continued until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. A few years later Giles Strangways bought the land , including the swannery and the Strangways family was granted the privilege to claim ownership of all swans hatched at the swannery. Swans are large birds and therefore provide a lot of meat.
Over the centuries swans have been used for many purposes such as food as the meat was seen as a delicacy and luxury food. The female swan's flight feathers were used to make quill pens and for hat decorations whilst the down was used to stuff quilts and pillows.
Apart from Abbotsbury there are three other private owners of mute swans. These are the Worshipful Company of Vintners and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, who have ownership rights on a stretch of the river Thames and the Mayor of Maidstone has ownership on the River Medway. All other mute swans in England are the prerogative of the Crown.
There were mute swans of all ages plus Mallard, Widgeon, Coots, Tufted ducks, Pochard, Teal and Canada geese. The swans were all mute swans (but they do make a noise) My grandson thinks the juvenile swans have got dirty. I have told him their feathers will be white when they are grown up but he insists that they need a good wash.
There was also one lone Whooper swan. Whooper swans are large like the mute swans but have yellow on their beak instead of the red orange of the mute swans. The mute swans live in England all year round but the Whopper swans travel from Iceland and other colder areas in search of food. This could be the first of many Whooper swans to visit or it could be on it's way further south for the winter.
Another, ove,y day, thanks for the info about the swans, and isn't the word swannery just marvelous. Reminds me of a trip we took to Melbourne Zoo, Australia, and we went to vist the Platypussery! Any guesses what was in there?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed visiting along with you. It was interesting to read about the different swans….
ReplyDeleteMaria lifeontheblock.