Ferriby Boats

The Ferriby Boats are three Bronze Age sewn plank-built boats, parts of which were discovered at North Ferriby in the East Riding of the English county of Yorkshire. Only a small number of boats of a similar period have been found in Britain and the Ferriby examples are the earliest known boats to be found in Europe.

Ferriby Boat 1

In 1931, the first boat, known as Ferriby Boat 1 (or F1), were discovered by a local man, Ted Wright, on the shore of the Humber. It was a boat bottom with one end almost complete. What remained was 5.6 feet (1.7m) wide and over 43 feet (13.17m) long, the planks mostly 3-4 inches thick. It was part of an oaken three-strake flat rockered-bottom boat which had been stitched together with yew withies, caulked with moss and capped with watertight oak laths. It has room for up to eighteen paddles and has been radiocarbon dated to between 1880 and 1680 bc.

Ferriby Boat 2

Sixty yards upstream, Mr Wright found the end of a second boat-plank in 1940. This has become known as Ferriby Boat 2 (or F2). It is a twin-planked centre-strake dated to between 1940 and 1720 bc.

Ferriby Boat 3

In 1963, part of a third boat was discovered and excavated adjoining Ferriby Boat 1. The remains consist of part of an outer bottom-strake and associated side-strake, dated to between 2030 and 1780 bc.

Display

The original boats were excavated in 1946 and unfortunately had to be cut up to be moved. They now are housed in the Archaeological Gallery of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Details concerning the boats can, however, be found on an information board on Ferriby foreshore, on a public footpath that forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail. The path goes from Ferriby to Hessle alongside the River Humber, and gives probably the best views of the Humber Bridge.

References

*cite web | last = Ferriby Heritage Trust | title = ferribyboats.co.uk | work = Information on the Bronze Age boats found at North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, England, UK | url = http://www.ferribyboats.co.uk | accessdate = 2007-01-02