C_B_2015_05_

CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2015 71

ONBOARD

Classnotes

BY VANESSA BIRD

I

t is said that if the wind was in

the right direction, you could

always smell a working Thames

bawley before you actually saw her

arrive back in port. Unlike many

other types of working craft, which

processed their fi sh ashore, the

bawleys were mini factory ships,

and were all fi tted with coppers in

which the day’s catch of shrimps

were boiled prior to the boat’s

return to port.

The fi rst boats of this type

emerged in the mid-1800s and were a

development of the peter boat, a

double-ended clinker boat that is the

fi rst known type of fi shing boat to be

used on the Thames. From small,

open craft developed larger decked

boats that would travel greater

distances, with transoms replacing

raked sterns, a more pronounced

sheer and the addition of a distinctive

gaff cutter rig. Wet wells to take the

fi sh were subsequently replaced with

on-board shrimp boilers, and

consequently the boats were beamy

so as to provide stable platforms to

prevent spillage from the coppers.

The bawleys were also designed to

be shallow in draught, suitable for

the shoal waters of the Thames

Estuary. By the 1850s, the bawleys

• of around 28ft (8.5m) LOA – were
  a common sight on the estuary,
  trawling for brown shrimp out of
  Gravesend in Kent.
  They soon spread to other
  Thames Estuary ports, too, with
  bigger versions working out of Leigh,
  Southend and Harwich, the latter
  trawling for pink shrimp as opposed
  to brown. Most were built by the
  highly regarded yards of Aldous of
  Brightlingsea and J&H Cann of
  Harwich, although a number were
  also built by smaller yards, such as
  Heywood of Southend and various
  yards on the River Medway. By the
  1870s, most of the bawleys built
  were carvel in construction, and by
  the late 1800s, most were of a similar

design, although the Medway

bawleys had vertical transoms and

were shallower in draught. They were

also fi tted with tabernacle-stepped

masts to allow them to pass under

Rochester Bridge.

The rig of the bawley is

particularly distinctive, featuring a

boomless mainsail that could be

brailed up to a long gaff if sails

needed to be shortened, and set on a

short mast. A lofty topmast carried a

large jib-headed topsail, while the

long bowsprit – up to 17ft (5.2m) on

some of the bigger bawleys – carried

a choice of headsails.

During the 1870s, around 100

bawleys were based at Leigh,

although by the 1890s, numbers had

begun to decline. However, they were

still being used for shrimping as late

as 1914, when around 60 were based

at Harwich. Many were subsequently

fi tted with engines, while others were

converted to yachts, and although the

numbers now in existence nowhere

near match those of their oyster-

dredging counterparts, a handful

• some of which even have their
  original rigs – do still remain on
  the East Coast today.

THE NAME

The name ‘bawley’ is said to have

derived from the term ‘boiler boat’, as

this type was originally known. The

on-board coppers were large pots with

a wooden lid that sat amidships on a

brick-lined cast-iron furnace. Once the

trawl had been brought on board, the

shrimps were immediately put in the

copper and boiled prior to the boat’s

return to port, to ensure they retained

as much fl avour as possible.

CONSTRUCTION

In the late 19th century, a typical 39ft

(11.9m) Cann-built Harwich bawley

was built with an elm keel and oak

deadwood, fl oors, frames, keelson,

stem and sternpost. Elm was used for

the garboards and two adjacent

planks and pitch pine for the rest of

the planking. The sheerstrake,

stanchions and covering boards were

oak, and the deck was 4in by 2in (102

x 51mm) fi r, laid on the oak beams on

tar and hair felt.

SEASONAL WORK

The bawleys were used for shrimping

during the summer months, and

stowboating during the winter.

Stowboating involved the boat lying at

anchor with a large conical net

suspended underneath it, and relying

on the tide to sweep fi sh into it, before

it was hauled up over the bow.

LEIGH COCKLE BOATS

A smaller version of the bawley is the

Leigh cockle boat or galley. These were

built in the early 1900s, and featured

an identical sail plan. Shoal in draught,

they had to be very strongly

constructed as the fi shermen who

worked them along the Kent and Essex

coastline would deliberately run them

aground on the sands to collect the

cockles, before refl oating them.

Several cocklers, including Endeavour

and Resolute, were involved in the

1940 Dunkirk evacuation.

DEN PHILLIPS

Vanessa’s book,

Classic Classes,

is a must-buy.

Please bear in

mind that this

book provides only

a snapshot of the

myriad classes

in existence.

The bawley Bona

built by Aldous of

Brightlingsea in 1903

SPECIFICATIONS

LOA

37ft (11.3m)

BEAM

13ft (4m)

DRAUGHT

5ft 6in (1.7m)

DISPLACEMENT

14.2 tons

(32,440lb)

SAIL AREA

875sqft

(81.3m²)

DESIGNER

Various

Thames

bawley

CB323 Classnotes.indd 71 23/03/2015 17:41