The Dover Bronze Age Boat

The Excavation

Part One : The First Section, 28th September - 3rd October 1992

By the morning of the 29th, enough of the boat had been exposed to confirm that C.A.T. had discovered the mid-section of a 'sewn' plank boat in a remarkable state of preservation, made of oak timbers joined by 'stitches' of twisted yew. The timbers stretched for a length of six metres, disappearing at both ends into the sides of the pit.

 

Following urgent phone calls and meetings the Department of Transport agreed to a six day break in road construction to allow the excavation and recovery of the boat. English Heritage agreed to fund the excavation. The Department of transport compensated contractors for the delay. Mott MacDonald and Norwest Holst gave much practical help and advice. Dover Harbour Board offered not only emergency storage in a custom-made water tank, but the use of a crane, lorry and their skilled labour force. Dover Museum helped to co-ordinate fast growing media interest and organise supplies. Staff from the British Museum and the National Maritime Museum came to view the find and offer advice.

 

It soon became clear that the boat would have to be completely excavated, as for technical reasons the proposed pump could not be moved. Dr. Ted Wright, who had discovered similar boats in North Ferriby before and after the war, strongly recommended that the boat be cut up before removal from the ground, due to the likelihood of it breaking up under its own weight.

 

On Saturday 3rd October, following careful excavation and recording the boat was removed in ten sections to a Dover Harbour Board warehouse near the harbour. The washing and packing of each section before lowering into the water tank continued until almost midnight.

 

Part Two : the Second Section, 9th October - 23rd October

As the exhausted boat team returned to their beds on the 3rd October it seemed unlikely that any more of the boat, if it survived, could be recovered. The 6.0 metres which had been salvaged represented only a centre section of the vessel. Further recovery would involve the cost of excavation, compensation for road delays, and the overcoming of some major technical problems. Some believed that the southern end of the boat might have been scoured by the sea, and that little would remain to record. Excavation of the northern end was likely to cause unacceptable risk to an adjacent building. Nevertheless, the importance of the boat, the likely deterioration with time, of any timber after the recent disturbance of the ground and water table, coupled with the possibility that more of the boat, especially an end, might be recovered, overcame all arguments against further excavation.

 

A further 8 days were granted to carry out excavation and the work recommenced. A second large coffer dam was dug adjacent to the first. By the end of October 12th the top of the boat was discovered. It was, almost miraculously, to stretch across the length of the pit, its unique swallow end terminating less than a metre from the edge.

The original team was joined by Valerie Fenwick, one of Britain's leading nautical archaeologists, and a team of English Heritage conservators.

 

A further 3.5 metres of boat were recovered and lifted in pouring rain on Monday 19th October and removed to the second tank.

 

The possibility of recovering the final part of the boat, although discussed at great length, was reluctantly abandoned due to cost and the proximity of buildings to the north of the first section.