West Country Barges and narrow boats

This is an example of the type of history & heritage feature you will be able to find regularly in Canals & Rivers magazine's HISTORY SECTION

Tony Ellis continue his occasional series on the sailing barges of England and Wales

Pic A

Living in Reading, my studies into these craft have, of necessity, a bias towards this part of the river. However, the experience of a riverside town such as Reading was probably typical of circumstances in other riverside towns such as Abingdon or Oxford.
The River Thames itself has been navigable from at least the 13th century and by the end of the 17th century there was considerable two-way trade by water between London and the Thames valley. Queenhithe Dock in the heart of the City of London developed a market for meal. This originated from grain grown in the rich lands of the upriver counties, ground by local water-powered mills and brought to London by barge.

In the 17th century, Reading was known to receive its malt, groceries, oils and tobacco by barge, as well as sending agricultural produce downriver to the metropolis. The West Country barges employed in this traffic have been depicted in the well-known series of Thames scenes painted by Havell in the early years of the 19th century or shown in Pyne’s microcosm of 1802/3.

Pic B

These early craft would carry a mast from which a towing line would be led ashore to a team of horses or a gang of men. When the wind was favourable, the mast would also be used for setting a small square sail - particularly helpful in the lower tidal reaches where bank towing was either difficult or impossible.

As the 19th century developed, so did the construction of the river barge. Handier craft with round bows and transom sterns began to appear - not dissimilar to the Wey barges which continued to operate commercially  between the river after which they are named and the London docks until 1969.

A painting by Thomas Shotter Boys (1803-1874) shows a variety of vessels clustered around wharves and warehouses on the Thames below St Pauls Cathedral, immediately above Southwark Bridge. In the foreground is (inside) a coastal sailing barge and alongside her is a West Country barge, both unloading flour onto Kennet Wharf - the very name hinting at a link between the City and Reading’s local river.

Navigation improvements
The River Kennet is recorded as being navigable from as early as 1673 and improvements to the navigation were approved by Act of Parliament in 1715. However, the vested interests of Reading and Abingdon - including barge owners, millers and wharfingers opposed the improvement of the river in view of the effect it might have on the position of the towns in trading and transshipment operations. The improvements were finally completed in 1723, with 11.5 miles of new canal cuts and 20 pound locks, 122 feet long and 15 feet wide, setting the standard for a new breed of barge launched from yards in Newbury and area.

Pic C

The Reading barge yard was located on the site now occupied by the Chestnut Walk below the walls of Reading Gaol, just upstream of Blakes Bridge. Barges built at Reading have been traced in the Directories at approximately one per year between 1807 and 1865, with six launched in 1864, five in 1865 and then one or two a year until 1878 then with gaps, one in each of the years 1882, 1899 and 1890. Builders included Thomas Ayres in 1809; Joseph Hill and William Allan 1811; Arthur Ford 1853 and William Hughes Junior in 1854. Rudimentary barges with open holds were also built for short haul work on the river. Other barge yards were in operation in the area, including one adjacent to Caversham Bridge on the downstream, Reading side (the existing Salters location).

Archives
Much can be gleaned from a study of the archives of local newspapers and my investigations of the Reading Mercury and Oxford Gazette are no exception. The following extracts provide a small taste of the waterside life of the period:

Pic D

“Monday 16 August 1802: To bargemasters and others - Auction by John Cumberland 16 August 1802 2pm at Bowl & Pin opposite Hambro Wharf, Upper Thames Street - A very capital barge - the ‘Fanny’, 45 tons burthen and skiff, with mast, rigging, tar paulings &c. - now at work on the Basingstoke. Inventory available etc.”

From the following extract, we are also able to judge the sartorial state of a bargemen of the period:
“Monday 11 July 1801: Escaped from gaol - New Windsor - John North, Bargeman imprisoned for felony/misdemeanour, wearing short smock, frock, trousers same, light coloured jacket with sleeves, round hat, dark worsted stockings, garters tied below knees, large metal buckles - believed gone towards Wallingford.”

Trespassing narrow boats

Pic E

The opening of the Great Western Railway from London to Maidenhead in 1838 and on to Bristol by 1841 had the typical impact on barge trade and traffic on the upper Thames and its tributaries. Trade in any serious way had largely disappeared by the opening years of the 20th century, although it is known that timber cargoes continued to be delivered to Reading by tug and lighter until soon after the Second Worked War.

Pic F

In my own boyhood and youth I spent much time on the river, and I can recall days when the solitude so dear to an angler... was rarely broken by the passage of a boat. Two or three pleasure boats, as many fishing punts, and perhaps twice a many barges, would be all that would pass between sunrise and sunset...

It is hardly necessary to say how much all of this has changed. The barges are scarcely more frequent than they were; in some sections of the river, I fancy, less so.

PICTURE CAPTIONS

(A) This painting by Thomas Shotter Boys (1803-1874) shows a variety of vessels clustered around wharves and warehouses on the Thames below St Pauls Cathedral, immediately above Southwark Bridge. In the foreground alongside Kennet Wharf is a coastal sailing barge and moored outside her is a West country barge, both apparently unloading flour. Moored stern-on upstream of these craft is what appears to be a Yorkshire Billyboy.

(B) Spritsail rigged barge on the Thames at Sonning around the turn of the 19th/20th century.

(C) ‘West Country’ barge loading at Streatley Mill, circa 1890. Note the foredeck ‘well’ created by the decorated forward rails and the raised forward headledge of the single hold. The nicely shaped transom stern is well decorated with the name of the barge and her owner (though these can’t be deciphered in this shot).

(D) The Wey Barge Diligent in 1969. These craft are the last representatives of the ‘West Country’ genre and many of her features mirror those seen on the craft at Streatley Mill (C).

(E) A pair of narrow boats approaching Sunbury Lock under tow from the bank, supplemented by a small square sail.

(F) An even clearer view of narrow boats and a sailing barge on the upper tideway can be seen in this etching by E W Cooke from his Shipping & Craft published in the early 19th century. Cooke was well known for the accuracy of his work and this view shows one of the narrow boats using a special mast from which to set the sail, rather further back from the usual towing mast position. The sailing barge is ‘stumpie’ rigged (no topmast/topsail) and, apart from her substantial sailing gear, is not dissimilar to the West Country barge type (compare with Diligent, illustration D).