# Muddy wood and ruins.....



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Folks here have most likely seen my scribblings about the new development area nearby, and the old naval dockyards below it etc. Well, last Saturday they had the public presentation and tour of the site. After various folks rabbiting on about their plans, there was a tour around the site and the archaeology they'd found there.

The earliest find they had was a Mesolithic site (approx 9000-4000 BC), unfortunately they'd re-covered the dig to protect what little there was, though they've got loads of test-tube samples :grin: - They also found evidence of quite a large Roman building, but everything had been smashed to rubble and re-used in later buildings.

Because of the odd shape of the area plus what was fenced off, I couldn't get a decent pano of the entire 40-acre site, but these will give you an idea of it - The fence in the background is on top the river-wall. The scaffold-railings surround the dig-sites, apparently this is the largest ever dig at a dockyard anywhere, at least they didn't have to worry about the tide coming in and out :laugh:





























Somehow, this monstrosity has become a 'Grade-II Listed' building, but the outside covering is a lot later than the original supporting structure so it can be skinned and modernised. One of the ideas put forward is to use a half as a shipyard (again) to re-build the *HMS Lenox*, a 17th C warship that was originally built here. I reckon it's an absolutely brilliant idea, especially if they want an 'unofficial-photographer' to record the construction :grin:











The inside of 'The Olympia Warehouse' as it was called. Built in 1846, it originally covered the slipways (just below the several feet of concrete) leading to the dock-basin, rather than directly into the Thames. It was later converted to a warehouse.


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

Not sure I'd want to be the official photographer for the restoration of the Lenox. Too much work and not much opportunity for creativity! Just down the road from me is Mystic Seaport which is rennovating the Charles W. Morgan wailing ship. LINK They are documenting literally every nail. Facinating but I don't think I'd want to be there everyday.

BTW: The Seaport owns the absolutely fantastic Rosenfeld photography collection. LINK and EXAMPLE (Linked to another seaport as Mystic limits what is available online.) Donald would be proud that the Rosenfeld's (there were 4 ) follow his advice concerning the Rule of 3rds. :grin:


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I agree about the Rosenfeld-photos, they're superb quality pics, both technically and aesthetically :grin:

That's why I want to be the unofficial photographer - Daily pics would be good for the archives, but most likely very boring to the general public, whereas weekly or monthly updates would be far more interesting :wink:


As the tour started, the guy in charge of the dig (Duncan Hawkins) and presenting the tour was often drowned out by some of the local thugs, these are just a few of the dozens lurking around....











This is some of the woodwork used for the original docking areas. As well as building ships, other ships were refitted and/or repaired here. The two slipways from the dock underneath the 'Olympia' above both led into a basin area, where the ships were then fitted out. The guys in charge soon realised the the walls weren't strong enough to hold the amount of water, when the tide was low. This is the original basin wall, with the wooden 'tie-backs' used to support and strengthen it - The kink in the wall is what caused the tie-backs to be fitted:











After approx 15 minutes, I'd had so much data and info thrown at me, it all sorta blurred out for a while - This is some old woodwork in the mud, from a long time ago :grin: - I kinda like the way it shows the ultra-modern in the background, just across the Thames, with the ancient origins in the foreground:











As the tour progressed, we eventually reached the closest point to the river. Just to the right, as I was facing the river was that beautiful old lady again, in the distance....











Eventually, we finally arrived at the 'prize' of the dig - The horizontal beams are what remains of the main slipway that launched such famous ships as the 'Golden Hind', 'Mayfair', 'HMS Endeavour', 'HMS Resolution' and 'HMS Discovery', amongst many others. The brick/concrete piers were built well later on, in the docks long history.


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks WB for putting up a very interesting pictorial and historical 'blog'.

Seeing those slipway beams and the nemes of the famous vessels made the history a reality - I could almost smell the ropes & tar... and the grease from the slipway!


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hehehehehe.... I don't know about the smell of tar and grease, the water was a bit past 'ripe' :grin: - The guy on the concrete beam is Duncan Hawkins the Director of the archaeology-team, talking to the throng.....











Some more strange bits of wood. It also gives an idea of just how massive the project is, after the concrete and top-soil was removed, all this was dug out by hand......











The folks back then certainly knew how to make steel, this chain was fitted in the early 1900's, there's only surface rust on it, not bad considering it's over 100 years old - I doubt I'll look that good at that age :laugh:











This bit of brickwork had the team baffled for quite a while, though the brickwork is shown on the plans, the upside-down arch isn't and they couldn't find out why it was there - A member of the public wondered if it might have been a sluice, or some sort of waterway, that had been later been blocked off for some reason, Duncan got a big smile of enlightenment at that point :grin:











This is where the dock-gates from the basin to the Thames were, in later years - The water-depth markings can still be seen....


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