The Dart Estuary
The Dart estuary has a unique position in the hearts and minds of seafarers with its rich and vibrant maritime history and culture.
This series of maps set to the CITiZAN themes give us a unique cross-section of this historic estuary.
This legacy site takes you through the work CITiZAN conducted from 2019 -2020 as well as introducing and collating previous archaeological work and highlighting some of the amazing partners that we worked with in the area that you are able to get involved with.
General
The River Dart flows from Dartmoor into the sea at Dartmouth and Kingswear. This map looks at the Dart estuary from its tidal reach at Totnes opening into the northern extremity of Start Bay.
The tidal reach of the Dart is conveniently marked by the 17th Century Weir at Totnes although this inland port has a rich history dating from at least 907AD onwards.
The stunning estuary has always provided an incredible natural haven. The mouth of the estuary is hidden between sheer cliffs. Unlike other estuaries in the discovery programme area, it does not have a large sand barrier that makes it difficult to navigate. The entrance opens to the estuary itself where the fast-running river and geology of the area creates an estuary that can accommodate large ships, and to this day at low tide it is still possible to bring a boat or ship of less than 0.9m all the way up to the wier at Totnes 14km inland.
In the past, the estuary thrived with large industries and communities developing with the river at the heart of all activities. Like many South Devon Rivers in the latter half of the 20th Century the estuary became more about leisure craft than trade although many small boatyards are still present, and a large amount of archaeological remains that hint at this layered legacy are increasingly eroding from its shores.
Ships boats & barges
All along the Dart are the skeletal remains of abandoned vessels. These boats mostly date from the 19th – 20th centuries.
These abandoned vessels give us a unique insight into the trade, people, and maritime stories of the River Dart. During our time working in the area, we have looked at many of these vessels and collated information on each one, while focussing our survey efforts on a concentration of vessels found at Old Mill Creek nestled behind the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
PS Kingswear Castle
PS Kingswear Castle. Click to expand.
The Paddle Steamer the Kingswear Castle is one of the most striking vessels abandoned on the Dart. It comes with a fascinating and detailed history. The vessel’s full story has been summarised in this video by Discovery Programme Officer Grant Bettinson.
Mizpah
Mizpah. Click to expand.
‘Mizpah’ is a small ketch visible on the opposite side of the bank under Hermitage Castle.
Winifred
Winifred. Click to expand.
The Winifred was a small 38 ton ketch, built in Falmouth in 1897.
Six Brothers
Six Brothers. Click to expand.
The Six Brothers demonstrates a classic hulked vessel. It was stripped and given low water legs in September 1929 and often used by private craft as a landing jetty or mooring point. The vessel was subject to modern interference when it was partly cut up in 1967 during river clearance.
Invermore
Invermore. Click to expand.
The schooner Invermore was built in 1921 in Arklow, Ireland. She is claimed as the last wooden trading schooner built in the British Isles (Small, 1988).
Mayfly?
Mayfly?. Click to expand.
Initially referred to as ‘unknown steamer’ in that intertidal archaeological bible “Lost Ships of the West Country’ these are the remains of what we believe could potentially be ‘Mayfly’.
Unknown Steamer
Unknown Steamer. Click to expand.
An ongoing Piece of CITiZAN work,
Boat breaking site
Boat breaking site. Click to expand.
An ongoing piece of CITiZAN work, this is a collection of an estimated 7 vessels around a central base.
Effort
Effort . Click to expand.
Surveyed as part of the Maritime Archaeological Trust’s Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.
Fiery Cross
Fiery Cross. Click to expand.
Fiery Cross is a ketch rigged vessel which was originally operating from Ramsgate and then later worked out of Brixham.
Glory
Glory . Click to expand.
Glory is a ketch-rigged Brixham trawler later converted into a houseboat and then a Pontins holiday camp.
Esther (Irene)
Esther (Irene). Click to expand.
Potentially identified by the work of the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.
PS Kingswear Castle
The Paddle Steamer the Kingswear Castle is one of the most striking vessels abandoned on the Dart. It comes with a fascinating and detailed history. The vessel’s full story has been summarised in this video by Discovery Programme Officer Grant Bettinson.
The paddle steamer is located at Fleet mill quay on the River Dart. The ship began her life as a passenger ship, its retirement as an isolation hospital ship and the reuse of its engines for the current Kingswear Castle that can be seen roaming up and down the Dart Estuary.
A blog on the connection between this site and another paddle steamer on the Dart can be found here: https://www.citizan.org.uk/blog/2020/Apr/29/you-give-me-fever/
The Historic images used in the video were taken from: http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/KingswearCastle.html
Mizpah
‘Mizpah’ is a small ketch visible on the opposite side of the bank under Hermitage Castle.
There are two vessels here but the identity of the Mizpah is the only one known to us at this time.
The vessel was built just prior to the turn of the 20th century. It was engaged in general trading until it was purchased by the Langmead Family of Glampton.
They Langmead family owned both Mizpah and Effort. The remains of both vessels are now located on the banks of the Dart. They were used by the Langmeads to deliver sand and gravel from the Dart to Torquay.
In a newspaper report on Saturday 5 March 1938 in the Western Morning News, both the Effort and Mizpah were advertised for sale -after this our knowledge of the two vessels is lost up until the Second World War.
The Effort was used as a balloon barrage vessel in the Dart during the Second World War and it is likely that the Mizpah was also used for the same purpose.
Similar to other vessels, in Old Mill Creek, Mizpah once abandoned was stripped, her pump and windlass were removed by the National Maritime Museum for an exhibition during the 1980s.
The vessel’s remains are difficult to access from land and tentative plans are being made to take a closer look at the two vessels from the water.
Winifred
The Winifred was a small 38 ton ketch, built in Falmouth in 1897.
Winifred operated along the south coast plying its merchant trade between ports from Cornwall to Hampshire. During the First World War it continued coastal trading. It was operated with various owner/ masters that are summarised in the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War report. In around 1920 it was fitted with its first auxiliary motor.
During the Second World War, having been fitted with an auxiliary motor, Winifred was one of the vessels employed on the Falmouth balloon barrage, reportedly servicing the other barrage vessels with gas bottles (Naval-history.net; Barrage Balloon Vessels 2018). After the Second World War, there is scant information to be found including how or when Winifred became a charred hulk on the river Dart. Our best working theory is that the vessel had been towed into Old Mill Creek as a houseboat. Sadly, there are very few surviving images of the Winifred afloat.
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Six Brothers
The Six Brothers demonstrates a classic hulked vessel. It was stripped and given low water legs in September 1929 and often used by private craft as a landing jetty or mooring point. The vessel was subject to modern interference when it was partly cut up in 1967 during river clearance.
Launched in 1897 or 1898, the Six Brothers (Official Number: 109291) was built by R. Jackman of Brixham (TNA BT 110/621/34). The ship was a ketch rigged fishing vessel having a gross tonnage of 49. The 67.2 ft (c. 20.5m) long ship had a beam of 18 ft (c. 5.5m) and a depth of 8.6 ft (c. 2.62m) and was powered by sail (Brixham Heritage Sailing Trawlers).
Six Brothers was one of a typical popular type of small fishing vessel, called a “Mule” class trawler commonly found around Brixham (Langley & Small: 1988, 41-42).
Invermore
The schooner Invermore was built in 1921 in Arklow, Ireland. She is claimed as the last wooden trading schooner built in the British Isles (Small, 1988).
Carrying mixed cargo, the vessel had a 36 year working life. In 1956 the vessel was withdrawn from service and was acquired by an emigration venture from Dartmouth to Australia. The venture fell through and in 1965 due to unpaid harbour fees the vessel was towed on to the rough point mud flats where it now lies.
Pillaged by thieves the helm, spars and various engine parts mysteriously disappeared. The National Maritime Museum came to finish the job by recovering the Widdop Engine. The vessel is now at the mercy of the tides and as can be seen is deteriorating rapidly.
The site is too far out to be safely surveyed on foot but can be clearly identified due to its intact winch. Plans were made to survey the vessel from the water in 2020, sadly these plans were kiboshed by the Covid pandemic but may take place in 2021-2022.
Mayfly?
Initially referred to as ‘unknown steamer’ in that intertidal archaeological bible “Lost Ships of the West Country’ these are the remains of what we believe could potentially be ‘Mayfly’.
A sequence of outbreaks of smallpox in Dartmouth in 1868 and 1870 resulted in the building of the Dartmouth College Hospital in 1887. However, the hospital had no capacity to deal with infectious disease and plans for an isolation hospital had been blocked by a local due to it being too close to his residence.
In 1893 a decision was finally made to purchase the ‘Mayfly’ a paddle steamer from Liverpool for £700. The river ship was converted into a hospital/ isolation ship for £500 pound and could accommodate up to 25 patients.
A caretaker was appointed who along with his wife lived on board the vessel which was moored on the Kingswear side of the higher ferry. The caretaker was responsible for looking after the patients, general maintenance and ensuring the vessel kept to regulation.
In 1894 a regulation was introduced that the caretaker should fly a yellow flag whenever there was a case of sickness on board the ship with strict instruction that no one was allowed on board without the permission of the medical officer (Keane, 2017).
The vessel was mainly used by visiting boat crews but was occasionally used by locals who had presented symptoms.
By 1906 the vessel had deteriorated and ceased to be seaworthy, to eke a little more life, she like so many vessels was beached and treated to the classic trick of being cemented, a process where cement is poured into the lower hull or between framing to briefly extend the life of the vessel. In 1909 permissions were given by the Raleigh estate to moor the vessel in Old Mill Creek.
Mayfly was used in an adhoc fashion from 1909 – 1916 when it broke loose in a gale and had to be re-moored. Eventually in 1919 she was declared unfit for human habitation never mind a hospital by the Medical Officer for health Dr Harris who reported shocking conditions, including flooded rooms.
The need for a new hospital ship had not gone away by the outbreak of the First World War. A request for a new hospital ship had been made in 1912, negotiations to purchase a new ship ‘Colleen’ later renamed ‘HMS Cuckoo’ began in 1914 and continued to be debated after the war until May 1922. Despite an admiralty ultimatum demanding that the Port Sanitary Authority buy the ship within 3 months, it was sold for breaking in August of the same year. There is an irony in dragging your feet there.
So despite the Mayfly being declared an unhabitable hovel the vessel was still used as a hospital ship admitting cases in 1921 and still without a replacement all the way up to July 1923 when a ship with a confirmed case of small pox would appear to have forced the Port’s hand.
In December 1923 the Mayfly was sold to Distin and Dorman, a boat breakers known to store vessels for breaking at Rough Hole Point. Now just known as Distins the family is based on the river Dart and run a successful boat yard.
Work is still ongoing but its position, condition when sold, general shape, oral history and profile would suggest it may be this lost hospital ship. Further research, oral history and survey will hopefully allow us to fully confirm this.
Unknown Steamer
An ongoing Piece of CITiZAN work,
This section of a vessel could potential be a broken part of the remains of the Mayfly. Ongoing survey work has matched the dimension and build but further research is being undertaken to conclusively prove the connection.
Boat breaking site
An ongoing piece of CITiZAN work, this is a collection of an estimated 7 vessels around a central base.
It is believed this site is connected to the boat breaking activities of local firm Distins & Dorman. Research is ongoing to clarify how many vessels are present here and characterise the site.
Effort
Surveyed as part of the Maritime Archaeological Trust’s Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.
The Effort was a ketch rigged, wooden trading vessel with a unique connection to the Mizpah. Both vessels were owned and worked by the Langmead family from Glampton in the latter half of their working lives.
Built in 1882 by Henry Grant a Kingsbridge local, Effort had a long trading career when it was eventually purchased by the Langmead family in 1925 to work in Torquay Harbour.
Surviving both world wars it is reported that the Effort was moored in the Dart for use as a balloon barge tether during the Second World War. The Effort was purchased in June 1952 and broken up on site on the bank by the owner.
Fiery Cross
Fiery Cross is a ketch rigged vessel which was originally operating from Ramsgate and then later worked out of Brixham.
Built in Cornwall in 1905 this small 39 ton vessel fished out of Ramsgate before relocating to Brixham due to increased U-boat traffic during the First World War.
The vessel’s working life appears to have ceased around 1933. It was used as a houseboat until 1937 when it was sold for breaking. It is reported that at the outbreak of the Second World War the vessel was still afloat but by the end of the war it was entirely derelict.
Glory
Glory is a ketch-rigged Brixham trawler later converted into a houseboat and then a Pontins holiday camp.
Launched in 1906, Glory was built by a Glampton based boatbuilders. The vessel was a mule class trawler operating out of Brixham participating regularly in the regattas to some renown.
Surviving the First World War the vessel’s commercial life ceased in 1929. Glory was repurposed into a houseboat and lived on until 1933 when she was sold to Pontins to be used as part of their floating holiday camp. Damaged by fire in 1938 she was abandoned where she currently lies.
Esther (Irene)
Potentially identified by the work of the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project.
Esther was a Teignmouth built schooner of moderate size at 98 tons. Following the Second World War it is believed to have been renamed Serena by which time it had been converted to a houseboat.
The last mention found of the vessel reports it being towed from the River Yealm to the River Dart in 1931.
Coastal Industries
The Dart was once a thriving centre of maritime industries from shipbuilding, general trading, and numerous industries which we will add as this story map develops. To begin with CITiZAN decided to concentrate on the sites of a gigantic lost industry …
The lime industry
These numerous sites connected to the once-thriving lime industry give us a beautiful way to conceive the sheer scale of trade and activity on this waterway.
Lime Kilns
Dotted all over the estuaries and coastline of Devon are lime kilns largely supplied with limestone direct from barges. Lime kilns were used intensively in the Devon area in the 17th and 18th centuries used all the way up to the early 19th century.
Lime kilns were used for the calcination of lime to form quicklime. A typical lime burning would take between 24- 48 hours. The quick lime produced was used to “Sweeten the Soil” (meaning that it made the soil less acidic) to create the best environment for growing crops.
Lime kilns often go unrecognized in the Historic Environment Record (HER) so it is very important, at the very least, to recordthe ones that survive.
This map represents those known to us via the Historic Environment Record.
LIME KILNS DEVON
In 2019 CITiZAN volunteers were able to survey 3 lime kilns on the River Dart although there are hundreds more yet to be recorded.
This lime kiln located at Glampton was surveyed by CITiZAN volunteers in 2019.
This Lime Kiln was the first to be recorded by volunteers in 2019. It has been recently restored and has a stunning setting within Waterhead creek.
LIME KILNS DEVON
This double lime kiln was surveyed in 2019.
It’s a lovely example of how these features numerous in the landscape have been reused and repurposed, these have been repurposed as storage.
Want To know more ...
CITiZAN were delighted to host local historian John Risdon to talk about this fascinating industry and trade back in 2019.
South Devons Rural Lime Trade - John Risdon
Coastal Erosion & Climate Change
CITiZAN was set up as a response to increasing levels of coastal erosion, seal level change and other associated effects of the accelerated influence of climate change. The project aims to encourage local individuals and communities to record archaeological sites within the intertidal zone as a response to increasing levels of erosion, accretion, disconnection and under protection of the extensive archaeological resource located between low and high tide.
The intertidal archaeology on the Dart is threatened with every tide and ever-increasing effects of climate change can be seen directly. It is vitally important that we record this archaeology before it is lost and we can do this simply by using the CITiZAN app.
The information you collect is used by the CITiZAN team to direct our work and call attention to sites in need of further investigation.
Further reading...
Thank you
Although our time working in the South Devon Rivers did not go quite to plan due to the 2020 pandemic. The considerable amount of work we managed to achieve would not have been possible without the fantastic volunteers and organisations that supported us.
Particular thanks have to go to Stephen ( aka @teigngardner) who gave a fantastic presentation at our 2019 conference. Nicky Bailey and Roger English who within their roles in the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty provided fantastic support throughout the project. The Raleigh estate for allowing us to conduct work on their land and Distins boatyard for being so open with thier family history.
Then finally Local Historian John Risdon whose lifetime of local knowledge on the Dart was vital in steering our work. He even published a wonderful book that you may wish to purchase to explore the Dart in further detail.
