Barge Collection

by in Collection, Sailing Bargeson

‘Everything about her was practical before it was beautiful, and it was beautiful because it was right.’
The Singing Swan by Sir Alan Herbert.

Barges have their own section with sub-sections for Masons and Waldringfield barges. West Mersea Museum and the SSBR Compendium have been very useful sources as have Robert Simper’s works¹. Identification of barges in old photographs is difficult so names are not always certain. Corrections and comments would be welcomed as well as relevant photographs. Photographs have been credited as far as possible.

A Floating Home and Born Afloat

This book, of local interest, is available online, A Floating Home. It was subsequently re-issued as a "A Floating Home ...

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Abraham’s Bosom

Coasting Bargemaster In Coasting Bargemaster, Bob Roberts tells of taking refuge, whilst in the Martinet, in an offshore anchorage: "It ...

Barges at Waldringfield

Visitors to the village now generally arrive by land rather than water so will be greeted by our village sign ...

Books Sailing Barges

Here are some good poetic extracts: The Singing Swan by Sir A.P. Herbert extracts APCM Handbook for Bargemen and Lightermen ...

Cement Works, Mud Digging

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Portland Cement was made at Masons Cement Works in Waldringfield on the ...

Coprolite from Waldringfield – SB Ammonite, Fossil, Nautilus

What is Coprolite? Coprolite is a phosphate-rich clay containing fossil bones and teeth of mammals and fishes. Some coprolites were ...

Extract from Dicken’s Dictionary – Barges

In the 1885 Dickens Thames Dictionary 'Barges' entry, he covers both dumb and sailing barges, his assessment of dumb barges ...

House Barges at Waldringfield

After the First World War, the Haig family, who had once lived on a converted sailing barge, the Ark Royal, in Essex, ...

Kyson Point on the left along Troublesome Reach to Loders Cut

Loder’s Cut and John Loder, Troublesome Reach, Bloody Point and Kyson Point.

The 1845 Deben Survey shows an oxbow bend with Troublesome Reach to the south and Kingston Reach to the west ...

Masons (Cement) Barges

Having been surprised to discover that the Cement Works existed in Waldringfield and that there was a fleet of barges, ...

Muck and Straw Barges at Waldringfield

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, London was the largest city in the world and road transport was powered ...

SB Augusta

Augusta was Masons' first barge built at their own yard at Stoke, Ipswich in 1874 and named for George Mason's ...

The remains of SB Dover Castle on July 28th 2023 at LW looking towards the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour

SB Dover Castle

Built in 1872, Dover Castle was operated on the Deben by Robert Skinner from 1923, this was the twilight period ...

SB Elsie Bertha

Naming Frank Mason ordered Elsie Bertha in 1878 from Miltons, a Kent builder. This was Masons' third vessel and was named for ...

SB Excelsior

History Masons bought Excelsior second-hand in 1888 as their fourth vessel. Along with the remainder of the fleet she was ...

SB Grace

Grace was Masons second barge built at their own yard at Stoke, Ipswich in 1874 and named for George Mason's ...

SB Jumbo

Masons probably had Jumbo from new in 1883. Shipping movement records show Jumbo with Brooks as the master in London in ...

SB Kingfisher

We know from Walter Tye's book that Kingfisher was used in the mud digging for the cement works. His information ...

SB Martinet in Hollesley Bay

Bob Roberts, in Coasting Bargemaster, tells a compelling tale of how his ship, the 'boomie' bargeA boomie has a boom ...

SB Mystery or K.C. at Melton

The position of Mystery is wrong in the SB Compendium, being near Easton, but the description as a walkway fits ...

SB Orinoco

As Elsie Bertha was lost in 1894 it is probable that Orinoco, bought new in 1895, was her replacement. At ...

SB Petrel

Petrel was built by Orvis in Ipswich in 1892 as Masons fourth vessel. The first three had a family-related name ...

SB Three Sisters at Kirton Creek

There is little activity at Kirton Creek nowadays. However, it was once the mouth of the Mill River and, after ...

SB Westall at Melton

SB Westall on Bing According to a FaceBook post That's the remains of the Sailing Barge Westhall of Rochester Off ...

1948 Thames Wharfage Chart No. 2 from personal collection showing Barge Wharves along the London River from Beckton to Vauxhall Bridge

Thames River

These items are for the London River rather than the Estuary. 1790 Bowles's new map of the River Thames, from ...

The Singing Swan by Sir A.P. Herbert

Published in 1968 this is a fictional story contrived to tell of life on a sailing barge. Set in the ...

Details of Barges mentioned

Sources

The Society for Sailing Barge Research and The Barge Blog | The Society for Sailing Barge Research Blog (wordpress.com) Topmast and Topsail. magazines.

Mersea Island Museum, Essex (merseamuseum.org.uk) See Barges section, excellent searchable database.

Simper, Robert. The Barge Coast of Suffolk, Essex and Kent. Creekside Publishing, 2007 plus many, many others including articles in Topmast and Topsail.

Supporting Ipswich’s Maritime Heritage » Ipswich Maritime Trust – see image archive.

Thames Sailing Barges (merseaislanders.co.uk)

Carr, Frank G G. Sailing Barges. Dalton, 1989.

Hervey Benham, Roger Finch, and Philip Kershaw. Down Tops’l. The Story of the East Coast Sailing-Barges. By Hervey Benham with Additional Material by Roger Finch and Philip Kershaw. (Second Edition, Revised.). George G. Harrap & Co, 1971.

Smith, Richard W. The Thames Barge in Suffolk, n.d.

Chaffcutter Books. ‘The Thames Sailing Barge Compendium’. Accessed 21 November 2022. https://chaffcutterbooks.co.uk/product/the-thames-sailing-barge-compendium.

Willmott, F.G. Cement, Mud and Muddies, a History of APCM Barges, n.d.

Footnotes

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Image Sources and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Ron Green for advice and photographs.

Thanks to Robert Simper for advice and details.

Thanks to M.Lake and A.Videlo of WHG for help with details of crews and press cuttings.

Image Credits and Sources

Mersea Museum RG05_081: Courtesy Ron Green
Nautilus-from-1934-Yachting-Monthly-article-by-W.M.Blake_: 1934 Yachting Monthy article by W.M.Blake.
masons_logo-: cementkilns.co.uk
The remains of SB Dover Castle on July 28th 2023 at LW looking towards the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour: Photograph by Eamonn O'Byrne

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Topsail 44

Image Credits and Sources

Mersea Museum RG05_081: Courtesy Ron Green
Nautilus-from-1934-Yachting-Monthly-article-by-W.M.Blake_: 1934 Yachting Monthy article by W.M.Blake.
masons_logo-: cementkilns.co.uk
The remains of SB Dover Castle on July 28th 2023 at LW looking towards the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour: Photograph by Eamonn O'Byrne

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