A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames, and nearby coastline and estuaries. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to these often shallow waters
The barges only needed a small crew, typically two men and a dog. The average size was about 120 tons and they carried around of canvas sail in six working sails. The sail's characteristic maroon colour derives from the mix of materials used to treat the flax to protect it from ultra-violet weathering.
The barges were of various types; river barges worked the Thames and the Port of London. Cut barges were smaller so they could pass into the Regent's and Surrey canals. The larger estuary barges were seaworthy craft working the Kent and Essex coasts while coasters also traded much further afield, to the north of England, the South Coast, the Bristol Channel and to continental European ports.
Cargoes varied enormously: bricks, cement, hay, rubbish, sand, coal, grain and gunpowder. Timber, bricks and hay were stacked on the deck, while cement and grain was carried loose in the hold. They could sail low in the water, even with their gunwales beneath the surface.
They sailed the Thames and surrounding waters for two hundred years; then in the 1860s a series of barge races were started, and the barges' design improved as vessels were built with better lines in order to win. The Thames barge races are the world's second oldest sailing competition, second to the America's Cup.
Build and rigging The vast majority of barges were wooden hulled (although a significant number of later barges were also built in steel), between long with a beam of around . The hull form was as distinctive as their rig, being flat-bottomed with no external keel. There is a degree of flare to the sides and plumb ends. The stern was a transom, shaped like a section through a champagne glass, on which was hung a large rudder. The hull was mainly a hold with two small living areas in the bow and stern, and access was through two large hatchways, the smaller before the main mast and a much larger aperture behind. To prevent her unwanted (sideways) passage to the lee, are two massive pivoted leeboards.
The topsail was usually first sail on and last sail off, being fixed to the topmast by hoops. In the upper reaches of the rivers and constricted harbours it reached into the clear air, and when approaching a berth casting off the halliard would drop it immediately killing the forward drive. The mizzen boom in a mulie is sheeted down to the long shallow rudder. The masts are mounted in tabernacles so they can be lowered to pass under bridges; the anchor windlass is used to lower and raise the gear via triple blocks. This takes considerable effort and to aid in the process 'hufflers' were often used. They would come on board to help with lowering and raising the gear (for a fee). The bowsprit where fitted could be 'topped', helping where space was limited.
They were usually spritsail rigged on two masts. Most had a topsail above the huge mainsail and a large foresail. The mizzen was a much smaller mast on which was set a single sail whose main purpose was to aid steering when tacking. The rig also allowed a relatively large sail area on the upper part of the mast, to catch wind when moored ships, buildings or trees blocked wind on the water's surface. The topsail could remain set even when the mainsail had been brailed to the mast. Sail areas varied from depending on the size of the barge. The typical, rusty-red maroon colour of the flax sails was due to the dressing used to treat the sails that were permanently aloft (traditionally made from red ochre, cod oil, urine and seawater). The red ochre was there to block the ultra-violet in the sunlight from degrading the sails (much as lamp-black was used in the sail dressing for the Norfolk wherries), but sails that were stowed away such as jibsails were usually left untreated. The barges required no ballast, and sailing in this condition with leeboards raised they typically draw only 3 foot; this has caught out a few modern yachtsmen who have run aground while attempting to follow them. No auxiliary power was used originally but many barges were fitted with engines in later years and most retain them, but among the surviving sailing barges both Mirosa and Edme have never had engines.
The mainsail was loose-footed and set up with a sprit, and was brailed to the mast when not needed. It is sheeted to a horse, as is the foresail; they require no attention when tacking. The foresail is often held back by the mate to help the vessel come about more swiftly.
The mast was mounted in a mast case, or "tabernacle", at deck level and could be dropped and raised while under way, enabled the barge to "shoot bridges"-pass under bridges, on the Thames and Medway without losing headway. When no wharf was available, the barge could use the ebbing tide to stand on the mud, close to shore and offload its goods onto carts. A barge with no topsail – or top mast sailing stumpy-rigged required a smaller crew. With a shallow draught, they could penetrate deep into the back waters. Not needing ballast reduced their turn-round time. Where fitted, the bowsprit could also be "topped up" - raised, to allow it to use a shorter wharf.
In good conditions, sailing barges could attain speeds of over , and their leeboards enabled them to be highly effective windward performers. The unusual spritsail rig allowed any combination of sails to be set: often the topsail on its own would be effective.
Crew An advantage of Thames barges was their small crew. The typical crew was two men and a dog, the dog being useful for security and catching rats as well as for companionship. Occasionally barges would be crewed by just one man and a dog. Some larger barges would add a boy, or a woman (usually the wife of the skipper) to the crew.
History The precursor to the square spritsail barge was the London lighter or dumb-barge. They flitted up and down the river delivering cargo, using the incoming tide to send them up river, and the ebbing tide for the return journey. They were manoeuvered by a pair of bargemen using long sweeps (oars). These barges had a flat box like bow (swim-headed) and a near flat stern, or a square sloping stern (budgett stern). There is a print in the Guildhall Library dating from 1764, showing a 1697 built, round bowed barge with a spritsail rig – but with no mizzen.
The spritsail and the leeboards are both of Dutch origin and can be traced back to 1416 and can be seen on the London River by 1600.
Mizzenless barges, known as luff barges, were smaller and more streamlined: they principally worked the upper reaches of the Thames. In a 1752 engraving of the Chelsea Waterworks there is a stumpie with a transom stern.
In the 1800s EW Cooke (1811–1880), made a series of engravings of barges on the river, leaving a record of most of the possible rigs.
The flat-bottomed hull made these craft extremely versatile and economical. They could float in as little as of water and could dry out in the tidal waters without heeling over. This allowed them to visit the narrow tributaries and creeks of the Thames to load farm cargoes, or to dry out on the sand banks and mudflats to load materials for building and brickmaking (it was no coincidence that their use peaked while London was expanding rapidly). The main mast could be lowered to clear bridges. Furthermore, unlike most sailing craft, these barges could sail completely unballasted — a major saving in labour and time. The predominant rig was spritsail, though there were some that were sloop rigged with a gaff and an overhanging boom, and some that were ketch rigged. Mulies were rigged spritsail on the main and gaff rigged on the mizzen. The dandy rig had spritsail on the main and a lugsail on the mizzen.
The hull evolved: firstly decks were fitted around 1810, the round bow started to supersede the swim-head about 1840, and became a straight stem by 1900, the transom stern replaced the budget stern about 1860.
1863, 1864 and 1865 saw the first Thames Barge Races. These continued unbroken until 1938. The aim of the founder William Henry Dodd, "The Golden Dustman", was to raise the status of the bargemen, and to improve the performance of the barges. There were two classes, one for stumpies (under 80 tons) and one for heavier (under 100 tons) topsail barges. These were fiercely competitive – and soon new barges were being built, using the improved techniques learnt, to win the next year's race. The Medway races started in 1880.
Their heyday came at the turn of the 20th century when over 2000 were on the registry. That century saw a steady decline in their numbers. The last wooden built barge SB Cabby, was built by Gill, at the LRTC yard in Frindsbury in 1928. The last Thames barge to trade entirely under sail was the Everard-built in 1970, owned by the folk song collector Captain A. W. (Bob) Roberts.
Cambrias last mate was Dick Durham from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, with whom Bob carried the last freight under sail alone: 100 tons of cattle cake from Tilbury Docks to Ipswich in October 1970. Dick wrote Bob Roberts's biography: The Last Sailorman.
Following the Second World War, the coastal barge trade diminished as the nation became more mechanised. Cargoes went by road instead of by sea, squeezing the purses of the barge owners, until most of the once-handsome barges were given motors and relegated to short, lightering passages within the Thames Estuary.
Trade Many cargos were brought by barge into London such as building material. Bricks came from Essex and Kent, cement from Kent and sand was dug by the bargees from the estuary sandbanks. When the barges reached London Bridge, the mast was lowered with the help of 'hufflers' (spare strong blokes), so they could pass under to wharfs in the Pool of London or further upstream to Westminster or beyond. At the wharf the load was removed by horse and cart – the cart could carry one and a half tons over the un-metalled roads. The barge could carry 80 to 150 tons, although 120 was the most common tonnage.
Hoy companies There was a well established trading network along both sides of the estuary before the Thames sailing barge became ubiquitous. Each port had a hoy company that would run weekly forays into London to deliver or collect goods. They got their names from the hoy, an open square-sail barge. Typically they would run into London laden on a Monday, discharge and return the Thursday with a new cargo to arrive home to spend the Sunday with their families. By the 1880s they were competing for trade with steam engines on the railways, but could offer rates four or five times cheaper.
The hay-up dung-down trade
All transport in London was horse-drawn. The horses needed vast quantities of hay and straw, and they produced a vast quantity of dung. The 'Stackie' was a special type of barge designed for the hay and dung trade. The hold would be loaded with fodder root crops and hay would be loaded on the deck, in an inwardly sloping stack eight bales high. This would be covered with a tarpaulin, secured with the hatch covers and roped down. The mainsail had to be smaller to clear this stack (this could be achieved by reefing), and the foresail would be sheeted to a temporary wire horse. Often the stack would also overlap the sides of the vessel, and in all cases it obscured the view from the helm requiring excellent communication between master and mate sailing such an awkward load in a crowded river. On the return run from London, the hold would be filled with dung, useful for farmers but a nuisance in London.