Granaries, Shipyards and Wharves - Cycling from Guildford

year he built Southampton, to the designs of Thomas
Slade, one of the joint Surveyors of the Navy. The
Southampton has been described as “…the first true
frigate in the Royal Navy” by some historians. Others
disagree. INWOOD must have been well thought of
however, to be entrusted with building the lead ship
of a new class. After INWOOD’S death, LAVENDER
DOCK SHIPYARD was always run in conjunction with
at least one other Rotherhithe shipyard, and it is
seldom possible to say which ships were built where.
Early in the 19th century, the site was split into two,
the section nearest PAGEANTS STAIRS, becoming the
ship breaking Wharf of JOB COCKSHOTT. In 1807 and
1808, RICHARD TREVITHICK was working a few yards
away on his doomed attempt to tunnel under the
Thames to Limehouse, and at the same time, he was
developing his high pressure steam engine. This was
applied to a railway locomotive Catch Me Who Can,
demonstrated on a circular track near Gower Street in
July 1808, in the hope of attracting investors. This it
failed to do and TREVITHICK entered into some kind
of financial arrangement with COCKSHOTT to install
the boiler and machinery from the locomotive into an
old Lord Mayor’s State Barge that the latter had
recently purchased. What happened precisely is not
known, but there are references to “attorney’s letters”
on COCKSHOTT’S behalf, and TREVITHICK had to
leave London for Cornwall after becoming seriously ill.
It was 1865 before
significant
shipbuilding activity
began here again,
under the auspices of
JOHN & WILLIAM
WALKER. LAVENDER
DOCK SHIPYARD began building fast composite ships,
like those from BILBE & PERRY at NELSON DOCK. The
three best known were Mikado, 1868, Ambassador
(above), 1869 and Lothair, 1870. Lothair turned out
to be one of the fastest clippers ever built. Stevenson,
in “By Way of Cape Horn” gave a tale about her as
related by an old American Captain.
SHIPYARDS, GRANARIES AND WHARVES 41