The following article by Martyn C. Brown, Assistant Keeper of the Somerset Rural Life Museum, was published in SDNQ vol. 30 (September 1975), pp.115-118:
From the dug-out canoes of the Iron Age to the Bridgwater barges of the present century there has been a long tradition of flat-bottomed boats in the county of Somerset. The purpose of this paper is to bring to light some details of two boats, both from the Somerset Levels, which have been collected during the past year for the Somerset Rural Life Museum.
These boats, one used for carrying willows, the other for peat, appear to continue the tradition. They are both flat-bottomed and to some extent double-bowed; the latter feature is said to be the result of their use in the narrow rhines which dissect the Levels and in which it would be impossible to turn a boat around. Before the effective draining of the Levels was undertaken about twenty years ago, almost every farm, in areas liable to flood, had its own boat. In the winter flooding was so frequent and so severe that boats were used for many farm purposes, such as carrying fodder to stranded livestock. The previous owner of the peat boat recalls travelling to Glastonbury market in it. Like much of the terminology of the ‘Moors’ the names for the parts of the boats are pure Anglo-Saxon. The floors are called ‘(h)rungs’ and the ribs ‘drashels’ (flails), both the stems are locally called ‘noses’.[1]
The Willow Boat
The Willow boat measures 5.65 metres (18 ft. 6 in.) in length by 1.75 metres (5 ft. 9 in.) in breadth at its widest point. It is of typical and simple design; the bottom of the boat consists of five oak planks, each 22 cm (8 ½ in.) across, in the centre, tapering to one plank at the ends. The planks are reinforced and connected by five ribs or battens also of oak. Each side of the boat is constructed of one elm strake or plank with a box-gun-wale fitting a rebated stem at both ends. The sides are supported by oak knees. At the stern (?) there is a narrow thwart of oak. The boat was originally tarred inside and out, but in the forties the bottom of the boat was repaired with a sheet of tin.
The boat was propelled like a punt using a long stout pole or alternatively it was towed from the bank. Two iron spikes about 45 cm (17 ½ in.) long are attached to each end of the boat by lengths of chain (1.5-2.0 metres/60-80 in.). The spikes were used to secure the boat to the bank when loading or unloading. There are also two padlocks on iron rings beneath the gunwale; at night the boat could be locked to a gate post or convenient pole.
The boat was made in 1937 by Samuel Stuckey, a wheelwright of Kingsbury Episcopi. His primary tasks were to make wagons and carts for the local farmers and boats for the willow growers. Mr Stuckey sold the boat for £11 to Mr F. Male, a willow grower in Stembridge. It was used regularly from 1937 to 1950 to carry willows from the ‘withy beds’ on Westmoor (about one mile west of Kingsbury Episcopi) to firm ground at Lower Burrow. From there the willows could be transported in wagons (or more recently by tractors and trailers) to the willow stripping and processing sheds at Stembridge. The willows are cut from November to March on the ‘Moors’, the period in which the area is most susceptible to flooding. Cut willows are gathered into ‘bolts’ (bundles of approximately 75 cm (30 in.) in circumference) and later into heaps consisting of 20-30 bolts.[2] These were sometimes swept away by the flood water and had to be collected up by boat so as not to lose the crop.
Since the building of the pumping station at Midelney in 1961 flooding has been less common and less severe in the Kingsbury area, so that now boats are no longer necessary to the willow growers.
The Peat Boat
The peat boat or ‘turf’ boat is smaller than the willow boat. It measures 5.20 metres (17 ft.) long by 1.40 metres (4 ft. 7in.) across. The extremely shallow draught of the boat led to the saying that it could float in a heavy dew. Though similar in construction to the willow boat, it is clinker built, each side consisting of two elm planks supported by five oak knees and finished with an ordinary gunwale. Like the willow boat it was tarred inside and out and has a spike and chain attached to each end to secure the boat to the bank.
A pole or ‘oar’ was used to push (locally ‘row’) the boat; the oar had a ‘T’ shaped handle. This illustration is a replica which was made in 1974 and shows the forked iron end which enabled the oar to grip on the muddy bed of the river or rhine. Although this boat is of the usual size, apparently two 45 ft. boats of the same design were built for the peat works at Meare and used on the Glastonbury/Highbridge canal.
The peat boat was made by Mr Henry Sweet of Blakeway near Wedmore in the early 1930s. It was used by Mrs Olive Hardwick at Blakeway until about 1960 for many purposes, but primarily to carry peat from her land on Westhay Moor. The boat was purchased by the Somerset Rural Life Museum in 1974, with the help of a grant from the Science Museum, London.
Conclusion
The differences in the shape and size of the boats reflects the nature of their principal cargo. The steep sides and large floor area of the willow boat were necessary to ensure that the bundles could be stacked securely’ peat, on the other hand, cut in brick-shaped pieces, could easily be transported in a neatly balanced load. Despite these differences it is the similarity of the style and construction of the boats that must be emphasised. It is possible that these two boats are members of a group or family of flat-bottomed boats, common to Somerset, and originating from the dug-out canoe. It is interesting to note that in East Anglia boats of similar design to those described here were used to carry both turf and reed: “Broad beamed turf barges” [3] were towed by donkeys in the Cambridgeshire fens, and on the Norfolk Broads almost identical boats were used to carry reed.[4]
Footnotes:
[1] Commander Eric McKee, Private communication, 1974
[2] F. Males, Private communication, 1975.
[3] Enid Porter, ‘Fenland Peat’, Studies in Folk Life (1969).
[4] P.H. Emerson, Life and Landscape of the Norfolk Broads (1886).
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