Tamar barge explained

A Tamar barge is a masted sailing vessel, designed for carrying cargo along the River Tamar^[1] and the south coast of Cornwall.

The Tamar barge can be either a single or double masted vessel. It can carry up to 32 tonnes. Tamar barges were manufactured in the 19th century in the Tamar Valley by boatbuilders such as James Goss of Calstock, Frederick Hawke of Stonehouse, Plymouth and David Banks of Queen Anne’s Battery in Sutton Harbour, Plymouth.

There are only two surviving Tamar barges, both have been almost completely restored. Normally one, Shamrock, is open to visitors at Cotehele Quay^[2] and the other, Lynher, is privately owned and moored at Cremyll.

Shamrock is currently undergoing extensive repairs due to lack of maintenance which had led to mould and rot spreading throughout the timbers. The National Trust has launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the repairs to the historic vessel.^[3]

List of known Tamar Barges

Vessel	Image	Length	Sail Plan	Builder	Date	Place	Fate	Ref
Annie		55.7 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1899	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Abandoned at Hooe Lake	^[4]
Bertie		46.2 ft	Sloop	David Banks and Co.	1883	Queen Annes Battery, Plymouth	Abandoned in 1928 at Hooe Lake	^[5]
Commerce		Unknown	Cutter	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	^[6]
Edith		54.9 ft	Cutter	Unknown	c1890	Unknown	Unknown
Edward & Sarah		Unknown	Cutter	Edward Brooming	Unknown	Calstock, Devon	Unknown	^[7] ^[8]
Edwin		55.1 ft	Unknown	Richard Hill & Sons	1880	Cattedown, Plymouth	Abandoned in 1924, partly broken up, at Pomphlett Creek	^[9]
Elizabeth Jane		Unknown	Cutter	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Abandoned at Antony Passage	^[10]
Flora May		50.5 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1897	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Operated between Danescombe Quay and Plymouth Later abandoned at Saltash	^[11]
Gwendoline		Unknown	Unknown	David Banks and Co.	1894	Queen Annes Battery, Plymouth	Unknown	^[12]
Kate		54 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1885	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Unknown	^[13]
Lillie		55 ft	Sloop	James Goss	1899	Calstock, Devon	Unknown	^[14]
Industry		40 ft	Sloop	Edward Brooming	1880	Calstock, Devon	Unknown	^[15]
Lynher		51.2 ft	Cutter	James Goss	1896	Calstock, Devon	Abandoned in the 1950s at Poldrissick Quay Restored in 1999 by Charlie Force Currently Operational	^[16]
Martin		Unknown	Cutter	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Mayblossom		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	1894	Plymouth	Unknown
Myrtle		50 ft	Sloop	Robert May	1896	Danescombe Quay, Calstock, Cornwall	Bomded by the Luftwaffe during the Plymouth Blitz, sank in the Hamoaze, next to Devonport Naval Base.	^[17]
Pearl		52 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1896	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Abandoned at Hooe Lake	^[18]
Phoenix		51.9 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1900	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Unknown	^[19]
Reaper		Unknown	Unknown	Frederick Hawke	c1900	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Unknown	^[20]
Shamrock		57.5 ft	Ketch	Frederick Hawke	1899	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Abandoned in the 1960’s at Hooe Lake Restored in 1975 by the National Trust Currently a Floating Museum	^[21]
Secret		Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Sirdar		Unknown	Cutter	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Triumph		56.5 ft	Cutter	Frederick Hawke	1898	Stonehouse, Plymouth	Used in WWII, later abandoned at Poldrissick Quay	^[22]
Yealm		Unknown	Unknown	Moore	1878	Sutton Pool, Plymouth	Unknown

Surviving Tamar barges

• Shamrock, built in 1899 by Frederick Hawke.
• Lynher, built in 1896 by James Goss. Ship of the National Historic Fleet^[23]

See also

• West Country Ketch
• Wey barge
• Cotehele House

Further reading

• "Meet Shaune Blight" National Trust Magazine; summer 2019, p. 82 ("Shamrock, the last working ketch-rigged Tamar sailing barge to be built ... [he] is responsible for keeping the 120-year-old boat afloat")
• "Lord John Roberts; Site Report" Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War (2018)

External links

• Calstock History
• National Trust Cotehele Quay
• Shamrock, Cotehele

Notes and References

1. http://www.calstock.info/ Calstock Online Parish Clerk River Tamar Travel
2. http://shamrock-cotehele.blogspot.com/p/about-shamrock.html Shamrock at Cotehele
3. Web site: Saving Shamrock. National Trust. en. 2019-11-04.
4. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_HooeMysteryShips.html Hooe Mystery Ships
5. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_HooeNorthShore.html Tamar Barge Bertie
6. The Upper Tamar Valley a Century Ago (1982) R.T.Paige, page 40
7. The Tamar Valley and Its People (1984) R.T.Paige
8. The Industrial Archaeology of the Tamar Valley (1967) F. Brooker, pages 42-44
9. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Edwin.html Tamar Barge Edwin
10. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_ElizabethJane.html Tamar Barge Elizabeth Jane
11. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-388692 Tamar Barge Flora May
12. The Upper Tamar Valley a Century Ago (1982) R.T.Paige, page 44
13. Barges (1984) J.Leather, chapter 13 pages 167-176
14. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/mark-myers-framed-print-tamar-barge-513450979 Tamar Barge Lillie
15. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-67067 Tamar Barge Little Industry
16. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Lynher.html Tamar Barge Lynher
17. Cotehele Quay Heritage Centre
18. http://www.historic-shipping.co.uk/hulks/Pearl.html Tamar Barge Pearl
19. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_HooeLake3.html Tamar Barge Phoenix
20. https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-158050 Tamar Barge Reaper
21. https://www.sailing-by.org.uk/shamrock-tamar-barge/ Tamar Barge Shamrock
22. http://www.shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Triumph.html Tamar Barge Triumph
23. https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/1137/lynher National Historic Ships UK