tion drawn to the discovery of two specimens of the
ancient shipwright's craft, which have revealed to us the
modes of construction practised, and many interesting
details of arrangement. The first of these was the hut
partially explored vessel, of large size, which still remains
to await more complete investigation in the muddy banks
of the little river, the Hamble, not far from Burslean
Bridge, Southampton Water.
The second was the celebrated Viking ship found
beneath a tumulus at Grogstad, the mound having been
raised above it as a memorial of some unknown sea chief-
tain who had been buried in the ship, wdiich he had,
doubtless, commanded.
The discovery of such remains of bygone days, indeed,
may hardly be wondered at when consideration is given
to the enormous number of ships that have been wrecked
or abandoned during all the years of the long past. In-
stead of our treating the discovery of remains of old
vessels as a matter of surprise, as we do, may we not
rather be surprised that so few, comparatively, have
been actually met with ? The number is, however, greater
than may be at first sight supposed.
The discovery which has just been made at Brigg has
revealed another example of ancient construction, dif-
ferent from any that have yet been described to this
Association, and in consequence it is more worthy of
being recorded. The circumstances of the discovery,
briefly, are as follow. The extension of the Brigg Gas-
Works has occasioned arrangements for the erection of
another gasometer, and accordingly a circle was mai4«ift-.
out for its excavations. /i<\ — ^*^/\
280 DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT SHIP
About the middle of the month of April the workmen
came upon a huge mass of timber, which was found at a
depth of about 3 ft. 6 ins. from the modern surface of
the earth. They considered it but an ordinary log, and
some little injury, but no more, was done to it. On its
being found to extend to a great length, its true nature
began to be observed, and it was soon found to be an
enormous ship or boat dug out literally from the trunk of
an enormous oak. The excavators proceeded with most
commendable caution, and the whole extent of the ship
was laid bare, inside and out. It is found to be formed
of the trunk of a single huge oak-tree, the stern being
worked out of the butt, and the prow out of the upper
part. The total length is 48 ft. 8 ins.
Mr, William Stevenson of Scarborough, in a letter to
The Times, of April 24th, which first reported this re-
markable discovery to London readers, has most courte-
ously given me many particulars of this remarkable find.
The internal dimensions are as follow : the floor of the
ship is 48 ft. long, the width is 4 ft. 3 ins,, and the depth
is 2 ft, 3 ins. The whole of this space has been " dug out"
of the solid tree, to use the term applied in North Ame-
rica to similar constructions, as practised by the abori-
ginal Indian inhabitants and others to the present
day. The sides are curved ; and at the stern end
they are sharply curved "so as to form an overhanging
counter" or support for a seat. The floor is level, at right
angles to the sides, and, as stated by Alfred Atkinson,
Esq., A.M. Inst, C. E., the engineer superintending the
works, " ridges of timber have been left at intervals,
crossing the bottom athwart ship. These correspond with
the floor-timbers of a modern craft." The excavation
must have been done by an axe or an adze, the top part
of the log having been first brought to a level, and the
lower part being flattened, there being no keel. The
bows are simply rounded, and not worked to any pattern
or device, the appearance being as if the ship had been
intended as a ram. The stem is cut to a plain slope, and
there is no solid termination, the excavation being carried
to the extreme end, probably on account of some loose-
ness in the timber owing to its closeness to the roots.
The end had, therefore, to be closed by other means, and
AT BRIGG, LINCOLNSHIRE. 281
this was accordingly done by the insertion of a boarded
end fitted into a triangular rebate perpendicularly, and
at right angles to the sides and bottom. The sloping
sides of the stern extend beyond this filling- in, and
irrespective of it. There is no sign of a rudder ; nor,
indeed, ought we to look for one at the extreme end, as
in modern practice, since the rudders of ancient craft
appear to have been at the side, as in the Viking ship
already referred to. The grooves were found to be caulked
with moss, which had been " probably forced into the
joint in a dry state, so as to swell and become tight when
it got wet." The stern-board was missing when the ship
was excavated, but has been found since. Moss was also
found used as caulking a long crack in the timber, found
in the starboard bilge of the ship. Moss and fern-leaves,
it will be remembered, were found in the ancient ship
near Botley, — a vessel of much larger dimensions, and
probably of much less antiquity.
Within the vessel several curious, semicircular- shaped
cleats have been found, formed at the junction of the
floor with the upright sides. They are pierced with small
circular holes intended for ropes or for lashing.^ There
are circular holes bored through the upper edges of the
boat, not quite opposite one another. Beyond the stern-
board there is one on each side, in a line with the others.
Speaking of these Mr. Atkinson says : " Mr. Stevenson is
probably quite right in considering that the holes through
the upper edges of the sides, abaft the stern-board, were
used for lashing the sides together. The other holes he
speaks of were, I believe, made for the same purpose.
When the boat was first uncovered, a beam or stretcher
was found in situ. It was between the gunwales, and
near one pair of holes. This stretcher would prevent the
sides of the boat from closing in, and the lashing from
hole to hole would keep them together. The stretcher
1 Mr. Atkinson has sent me a sketch, from memory, of this curious
portion of the construction, and he says : " The cleats formed part of
a patch, of which the following is a sketch. The patch is about 4 ft.
long, and was fastened by keys passing through the holes in the cleats,
and also by sewing, with a small twisted rope, through small holes in
the edges. In some places small pegs have been useil " This patch
was to make good a defect in the oak, and its use indicates an advanced
knowledge of carpentry. (See the engraving.)
282 DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT SHIP
was not made of oak, but of some softer wood that fell
to pieces when removed."
There was also found, when the coating clay was first
cleared away from the bows, a curved piece of oak, not
unlike an elephant's trunk in shape. The connection of
this with the vessel, as a bowsprit, is open to much
doubt ; and although there is a rough, circular perforation
in the rounded end of the bows, yet this is far more
likely to be the result of the decay of the timber than of
design : indeed, the solid appearance of this end, roughly
rounded off as it is, justified Mr. Stevenson's remark,
that " it gives the impression of its being used as a ram."
The dimensions already given diminish somewhat to-
wards the bows, there being a little difference of size, the
log of oak diminishing upwards from the butt. The
enormous size of the tree which supplied this log may
readily be conceived from the fact that its first branch
was nearly 50 feet from the butt, the mark of its position
being seen on the larboard side, not far from the rounded
bows. Speaking of these remarkable dimensions, Mr.
Stevenson says: " The tree itself is the finest stick of oak
I have ever seen, and there is no tree growing in Eng-
land to-day that is its equal. The straight, even growth,
and the enormous length of the trunk before any branches
present themselves, imply that it grew in some forest or
soil highly favourable to its development. The diameter
at the butt is about 5 ft. 3 ins.; at the first branch, which
was nearly 50 ft. above the ground, it is about 4 ft. 9 ins.,
and throughout this length it is as straight as if turned
in a lathe. These figures represent the tree after being
divested of its bark and sap wood, which combined would
be 4 to 6 ins. in thickness, the sapwood of oak being
worthless for any purpose. The trunk of this tree,
measured over the bark, contained between 900 and 1000
cubic feet ; and when dressed for converting into this
vessel, contained 700 ft. The log was flattened on the
top for digging out." The bottom also may have been
flattened somewhat ; but if so, not much.
The holes referred to were only along the top edges,
and were about 4 ins. in diameter. These are somewhat
indistinct, owing to the decay of the wood and some in-
jury in the earliest stages of the excavations. There is
AT BRTGG, LINCOLNSHIRE. 283
one on each side at the bows, one on each side of the
stern, and three or four towards the centre. These holes
are obviously too small for oars, although they are in the
position we should expect to find perforations for such
use, and there are not sufficient of them. The holes at
the bows were probably for some mooring purpose, and
were found to be fitted with plugs, the out-bored ends of
which are rounded off in the form of a boss.
There appears never to have been a deck of any kind
to this curious vessel, although, perhaps, a few planks
may have been thrown over the sloping brackets at the
stern, to form a sort of raised seat or deck of small size.
The mode of navigation is not very clear from the
actual remains. There is no sign of masts, and we have
seen none of oars, while the rudder does not remain. We
may, however, conclude, from the analogy of other similar
" duo- out" vessels, that the mode of propulsion was by
oars, and that the rowlocks for their working were in the
finished portion of the sides. Still it is curious that there
should have been no traces of seats for the rowers. These
were, doubtless, movable, and very probably lashed on to
the side-bearers, which would have formed convenient
ledges for support.
A few words may be devoted to the position in which
this vessel has been found. The river Ancholme is the
main overflow which takes the watershed of a stretch of
country, speaking generally, extending from Lincoln to
theHiimber; the valley through which it flows, Ancholme
Level, a low-lying district, being fairly parallel to its
course; the ancient Roman road, the Ermine Street, run-
ning somewhat by its side, about a mile and a half to
the west, on higher ground. Although this stream is
now of no great size, and its purpose for drainage and com-
mercial purposes is served better by the New Ancholme
Navigation, yet there is every indication that at some
early time it was of much greater extent and importance
than at present, the soil being an alluvial, clayey deposit
a foot beneath the present surface. AVhile there is no-
thing, therefore, remarkable in the position of the vessel
in such a deposit as this, yet it is matter for curious
comment to find it so far removed from any stream of
importance, and with the level grass-land of to-day above
284 DISCOVERY OF AN ANCIENT SHIP
the place where it was found. The imagination has to
travel to a very distant past, when the little river was
once wider, discharging its waters, it is probable, through
a broad lagoon, or swamp, before reaching the main
stream of the Humber, then (as now) nearly nine miles
from the site of the vessel. The river, or what is left of
it rather, is still only a few yards to the west of the ship,
which is at right angles to it.
The occasion of the discovery has already been referred
to, during the extension of the Gas- Works for the supply
of the town of Brigg, or Glanford-Brigg, to give its name
in full. These are to the north-west of the parish church,
on the east side of the river, and about a furlong and a
half to the north of the bridge over the Ancholme, from
which the town derives its now popular name. The
erection of a new gasometer being decided upon, " a
circle had been marked out in a field, and, marvellous
to state, it embraced the whole of this vessel. When
2 or 3 ft. of the soil and marine warp had been exca-
vated, the head of the vessel presented itself", the head
being raised above the level of the stern.
This discovery has to be considered in reference to that
of another remarkable one, namely the planked road
found at Brigg in 1884.^ The position of these in rela-
tion to one another is curious, for were the course of the
road prolonged eastward, it would come but the short
distance of about 200 yards to the north-west of the posi-
tion where the vessel has been found. The description
of the depth at which the road was met with, 6 ft. below
the present level of the surface, indicates a certain rela-
tion to the position of the ship. In The Proceedings of
the Society of Aiitiquaries there is a section of the allu-
vial beds, with the position of the road, which is valuable
as enabling us to consider the relative levels of the
two objects.
In face of the facts revealed who can venture to assign
a date for the formation of the vessel ? Who can even
venture to state its era ? We know that it was before
the great Ancholme Level had been filled up by aqueous
deposit. In addition, Mr. Atkinson's diagram shows that
even after this the deposit was covered with forest and
^ See Proceedings of the Societij of A]Uiqun7'les, Second Scries, vol. x,
No. II, p. 112. â– â–
AT BRTGG, LINCOLNSHIRE. 285
underwood-growth, which again is covered by the thin
la3'er of soil forming the modern leveh
If we draw an analogy between this vessel and others
found under somewhat similar circumstances, and those
which are in use to-day, we shall have for consideration
some facts which will be found to illustrate what has
been found at Brigg.
The ancient boat found at North Stoke, close to the
river Arun, in 1836, has many points of resemblance. It
is hollowed out of a single oak-tree; total length, 34 ft.
G ins. The end, however, tapers, and the stem is straight ;
but otherwise the mode of construction is fairly identical,
even to the transverse ridges left in the floor.
Mr. Stevenson has sent me a drawing of another ship,
which was 42 ft. long, now in the Edinburgh Museum (or
at least a portion of it), showing the interior hollowed
out in a similar way, and with a bow- end cut to represent
an animal's head. There are holes through the sides for
lashing with ropes, as in the Brigg vessel. These two
examples (one in the south of England, the other in the
south of Scotland), will, with the vessel at Brigg, indi-
cate the large district in which such vessels were used ;
and we may safely consider that the relative ages are
about equal, and that they are so remote as to justify
our assigning them to prehistoric times. Still it is but
reasonable to pursue the inquiry a little further.
Mr. Stevenson has shown me a letter from the Rev.
Canon Green well, who speaks of similar " dug out" vessels
of large size, in which he has often made voyages on the
Bavarian Lakes. Vessels of similar class are, doubtless,
in use there to the present time, as they are also in
North America. A son of our esteemed friend Mr. Thos.
Morgan, has just returned from British Honduras, and
he has written to me on the subject before us, that
there are there " some of the great prima3val forests of
mahogany and other timber". He tells me that vessels
scooped out of one large tree are in constant use there
for sea-navigation as well as rivers. He has seen them
over 30 ft. long, and with plenty of width of beam, and
carrying two masts. Finally, any of us may see the most
modern development of tliis mode of construction in the
gracefully rounded canoe now on \iew in the Canadian
286 DISCO VEEY OF ANCIENT SHIP.
Court of the Colonial Exhibition, where it has been
worked out of the solid, and formed into the shape of a
light built-up boat. The smallness of its dimensions ren-
ders the comparison not a favourable one ; but it enables
us to trace how the past still lives in the present in this
mode of construction. But who can tell the long past
ages that intervene between the Canadian canoe and its
progenitor just discovered at Brigg ?
The vessel has been not only cleared of the accumulated
earth which had so completely buried it, but the difficult
task of raising it has been successfully accomplished
under Mr. Atkinson's direction. She is now safely lodged
beneath temporary shelter, pending the decision as to her
future destination. It is greatly to be hoped that she
will be placed in some permanent museum, where she
can be studied and inspected, since it would be a matter
for much regret were she not to be cared for after so long
a burial. There is abundance of space in the grounds of
the York Museum, the nearest institution to the site of
the discovery that has capabilities at its disjDosal for the
reception of such an addition to the collection, where she
could be studied to advantage, under a moderate amount
of covering, in the open air.
Much praise is due to the Directors of the Brigg Gas-
Works, as well as to Mr. Atkinson, for their care in their
unexpected discovery, and the interest they have shown
in its preservation. Thanks are due also to Mr. Steven-
son, whose letter in The Times has already been not only
referred to, but quoted from, at Mr. Stevenson's request,
and with his permission.
The accompanying engraving has been courteously placed at the
disposal of the Council by the Editor of The Builder. It appeared in
The Builder, vol. li, p. 88, with a description of the boat by Mr. James
Thropp, C.E., county surveyor for Lincolnshire. It shows the position
of the cleat or patch used in repairing the defect already referred to.
The bent piece of timber, perhaps a bowsprit, is also shown. The so-
called adzo is thus described by Mr. Thropp : " Part of a branch of a
tree was found, much resembling an adze ; and also some flints, which
were so hard that the Gas Manager cut glass with them as readily as
if a diamond had been used. It has been suggested that the flints were
fixed at the curved end of this adze when in use."
Since the above article was written, a lawsuit has occurred relative
to the ownership of the boat, it being claimed by the finders and by
the lord of the manor. It lias been decided in favour of the latter.
287
SEPULCHRAL EFFIGIES AT CHICHESTER.
BY M. II. I5L0XAM, ESQ.
{Read at the. Brighton Congress, ISSG.)
Little more than nine years ago the late Rev. Mackenzie
E. C. Walcott, the well known ecclesiastical antiquary,
wrote to me to inquire if I had ever examined the tomb
in Chichester Cathedral popularly ascribed to Bishop
Richard de laWych, who died a.d. 1253, and was canon-
ised by Pope Urban IV a.d. 1261 , and who was thence-
forth known as St. Richard, whose translation took place
A.D. 1276, and whose life is given in that costly and
voluminous work (to which few have access), the Acta
Sanctorum, under the day April 11th.
I had not, indeed, noticed the supposed tomb of St.
Richard ; but shortly afterwards, whilst staying at Beed-
ing Priory, I went down to Chichester, and as far as the
limited time afforded by railway in travelling to and fro
in the day permitted, I took brief notes of some of the
ancient sepulchral effigies and monuments in the Cathe-
dral. I was unable, for the reason above stated, to stay
in the Cathedral so long as I could have wished, and my
notes were somewhat hurried and fragmental. Such,
however, as I took them down at the time I give them,
on the understanding that allowance must be made for
my having had no opportunity since of comparing them
afresh for revision.
None of the ancient sepulchral monuments in the
Cathedral of Chichester, especially those which are un in-
scribed, can, I think, be attributed to an earlier period
than the latter part of the twelfth century : I doubt, in-
deed, if so early. At the entrance into the Lady Cliapel
are three coffin-shaped slabs commemorative of bishops,
one only of which bears an inscription, radvlfvs epI.
This slab, wider at the upper than the lower part, is
somewhat raised, and the surface is narrower than the
base. Upon it is sculptured, in relief, a pastoral stafi
1886 21
288 SEPULCHRAL EFFIGIES
headed with a plain curved crook, and a simple mitre
with infidce depending from it. This tomb has been
ascribed to Bishop Ralph Luffa, who died a.d. 1123.
On the sonth side of the Lady Chapel, or the entrance
thereto, beneath a pointed arch, cusped within, and
crocketed above (apparently of later date than the tomb
over which it appears), is a low, coffin-shaped slab, some-
what raised, bearing- a pastoral staff in relief, crossing
from right to left. Near to this is another coffin-shaped
slab bearing a pastoral staff crossing from left to right.
These tombs have been severally ascribed to Bishop Hil-
ary, who died a.d. 1169, and Bishop Seffrid II, who died
A.D. 1204. Uninscribed, however, as they are, I look
upon the ascriptions as uncertain, and think they may
be of a later date, though not so late, perhaps, as the
cusped and crocketed arch above.
On a slab in the north aisle is a pastoral staff of very
simple design, incised. Of what bishop this was comme-
morative, I know not ; but as I know of no incised slabs
earlier than the thirteenth century, I would assign this
tomb to an early period in that age.
At the east end of the south aisle of the choir is a
coffin-shaped slab of Purbeck marble, slightly raised
above the pavement, with a hollow moulding round the
verge. This appears to be an episcopal tomb of the early
half of the thirteenth century. It exhibits a shield and
mitre upheld by angels ; but of what bishop it is comme-
morative I am ignorant.
There is a slab on the pavement at the back of the
altar-screen, in which, within a trefoil, two hands are
sculptured, supporting a heart, with the inscription in
Norman French, ici gist le cceur maud de , the
lady's name being illegible. It was no uncommon custom,
when a heart was buried apart from the body (which was
not unfrequently the case), for the place of sepulture to
be thus pointed out. My notes do not enable me to
decide whether this is a memorial of the thirteenth or
fourteenth century.
On a high, panelled tomb is the recumbent effigy of a
bishop, reputed to be that of St. Richard ; but evidently
of a much later period than the time of his death, canon-
isation, and translation. On the head is worn a plain
AT CHICHESTER. 289
mitre ; round the neck, the amice, with a stiff parure, is
folded. The body-vestments consist of the alh, over
which appear the extremities of the stole. The dalmatic,
open at the sides, is worn above the alb, but there is no
appearance of the tunic. Over the dalmatic is worn the
chasuble. The riq-ht hand is gloved, and upheld in act
of benediction. On the middle finger the episcopal ring
is worn. The left hand, also gloved, holds the pastoral
staff, which is veiled, and the crook sculptured with foli-
age. The maniple depends from the left arm, and at the
feet of the efiigy is a dog. The face is close-shaven, and
the head reposes on a lozenge and square cushion, sup-
ported by small statuettes of angels in albs, one on each
side. The statuettes on the sides of this tomb are
modern, for it has undergone of late considerable repara-
tion. There is a perceptible difference in episcopal and
other ecclesiastical sepulchral efiigies after the middle of
the fourteenth century ; for up to that time, circa 1350,
we find ecclesiastics of sacerdotal or episcopal rank wear-
ing the moustache over the upper lip, and the short,
crisp beard about the chin ; but after that period the
upper lip and chin were close-shaven. And such is the
case with this effigy ; a fact which evidences it could not
have been sculptured less than at least a century after
the death of St. Kichard.^ There is, indeed, no reason to
suppose that he was ever commemorated by a sculptured,
recumbent effigy. Canonised within eight years of his
death, his remains were subsequently translated or placed
in a shrine differing altogether in fashion from a sepul-
chral monument such as this.
At the south-east corner of the south transept is the
recumbent Q^gj. much mutilated, of Bishop John de
Langton, who died a.d. 1337. The upper portion of the
mitre is gone ; but the wfulw remain, hanging down be-
hind. Eound the neck is folded the amice. The body-
vestments consist of the alb, over which is worn the dal-