Granaries, Shipyards and Wharves - Cycling from Guildford

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vessels, including pioneer early steamships, East Indiamen, West Indies traders, 74 gun ships of the line, bomb vessels, frigates – and even the odd Royal Yacht, to be built here from the time of the Commonwealth onwards. Ship repair would continue, on a declining scale, for almost another century, but as the value of prime riverside sites for other purposes rose, by 1914, most of the yards were built over. Many had large granaries erected on them, and some of these survive, converted to apartments. Others found new use as timber wharves, or the sites for oil and metal refineries. The timber trade, shipbuilding and shipbreaking These three activities were intimately linked during the wooden shipbuilding era; a timber yard might be converted to a shipyard, by the simple expedient of constructing a building slip. Later, a dry dock for repairs might be added. There were several of these in Rotherhithe, almost all constructed of timber until quite late in the 19th century. A timber yard could also be used as the base for a ship breaker, particularly during the many wars of the 18th and early 19th centuries. No special facilities were required – the hull to be demolished was merely moored securely on the foreshore, and allowed to rise and fall with the tide, until breaking up reached the point at which it would no longer float. Final stages of the work could then only be carried out at low water. In wartime, timber could be in short supply – particularly the scarce curved “compass timber” used especially for “knees”, the angled brackets used to fasten deck beams to ribs, and to help support the weight of heavy guns. When a wooden ship reached the end of its working life, there was a great deal of material which could be salvaged for further use, either in ship repair, in building a new vessel, or even on land. During one of these walks you will be passing warehouses, whose floors are supported by knees salvaged from some long forgotten ship. As shipbuilding became less profitable, some shipyards turned over to shipbreaking. Some famous vessels met their end in Rotherhithe, and will be noted during the course of your walk. The peak time for this activity was from around 1830 onwards, when the last survivors of the massive fleet built up during the Napoleonic wars made final journeys to the breakers. With the decline in wooden shipbuilding, the later examples suffered the indignity of being turned into garden furniture, paving blocks, or firewood. 4 SOUTHWARK HISTORY WALKS
Ancilliary trades The wooden sailing ship was an immensely complex machine, demanding the products of many skilled trades to function. Several of these were represented in Rotherhithe, including rope and cable manufacturers, some of whose long rope walks survived long enough as open spaces to become allotments early in the last century and to escape being built over in the massive redevelopment of the area after WWII. There were also mast makers, at least one of whom stayed in business supplying wooden scaffolding when few ships required wooden masts any longer. Most glamorous of all were the ships’ carvers, who with a mixture of artistry and craft, produced the intricate wooden decoration and figure heads demanded by ship owners (and even the Admiralty) until such things went out of fashion in the middle years of Victoria’s reign. Acknowledgements No one can produce any historical writing about Rotherhithe, without a great deal of help from the staff at Southwark Local Studies Library. I have been fortunate enough to benefit from this since 1991. During these years they have cheerfully dealt with my requests to view material, and given unfailing advice and support. In connection with this present publication, I must particularly mention my good friend Stephen Humphrey, who kindly undertook the historical picture research and selection, in the face of a very challenging deadline. Present day photographs are by the author. While it cannot be doubted that to undertake these walks can be a great pleasure, having to do them several times, in the space of a couple of weeks, to check directions and take photographs, could be something of a trial. I must thank Malcolm Meachen for kindly driving me to various spots, then picking me up elsewhere, thus saving me considerable duplicated mileage on foot. A guide book should not only be an agreeable and informative companion on a walk, but should also be an enjoyable read at home beside the fire, with the walk in prospect, or in retrospect. I hope that this little book meets both requirements. I am also grateful to Carol Enright for her design work, which has turned text, photographs and archive material into such an attractive publication. STUART RANKIN, ROTHERHITHE, SPRING 2004 SHIPYARDS, GRANARIES AND WHARVES 5
Page 1 and 2: Maritime Rotherhithe HISTORY WALK W
Page 3 and 4: The walk in this booklet is present
Page 5: TOP: THE PATENT SLIP AT NELSON DOCK
Page 9 and 10: TOP: GREENLAND DOCK VIEWED FROM THE
Page 11 and 12: had been devastated during the blit
Page 13 and 14: TOP: IN THIS CONTEMPORARY ENGRAVING
Page 15 and 16: � WALK UPSTREAM ALONG THE RIVERSI
Page 17 and 18: FROM TOP: RISING STAR, KARTERIA, AN
Page 19 and 20: cutting timbers, being turned into
Page 21 and 22: � WALK ALONG GULLIVER STREET AND
Page 23 and 24: �WALK TOWARDS THE RIVER, AND THE
Page 25 and 26: ABOVE: THE EAST INDIAMAN TRUE BRITO
Page 27 and 28: �RETRACE YOUR STEPS, PAST THE PRO
Page 29 and 30: The change in the paving marks the
Page 31 and 32: The CAISSON on which you are standi
Page 33 and 34: ABOVE: NELSON DOCK HOUSE, AS PARTIA
Page 35 and 36: TOP: SERAPIS BUILT BY RANDALL & BRE
Page 37 and 38: RIGHT: THE STREET ELEVATION OF THE
Page 39 and 40: the post, said to be the origin of
Page 41 and 42: after which the site seems to have
Page 43 and 44: year he built Southampton, to the d
Page 45 and 46: was sanctioned by Act of Parliament
Page 47 and 48: Merlin, which served as a Royal Yac
Page 49 and 50: end of the building you can see tha
Page 51 and 52: in New Broad Street. As the KING &
Page 53 and 54: DOCKYARD was gradually reduced, a l
Page 59 and 60:
Further reading ■ Map of London &
Page 61 and 62:
THE LONDON & SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY
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Granaries, Shipyards and Wharves - Cycling from Guildford

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