The Purton Hulks
For many years redundant commercial river craft have been beached along the banks of the Severn between Sharpness and Purton in order to protect the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal against erosion. The boats involved range from wooden schooners, trows and barges to wartime concrete lighters and, at the Sharpness end, some more modern steel vessels. In excess of 80 boats are known to have been beached here and the site represents the largest boat graveyard in mainland Britian.
This unique site is constantly under threat from vandals and souvenir hunters. Name panels from the vessels made attractive ornaments and from the 1940s many of them started to disappear. In 1986 no less than eight vessels were destroyed and several others were damaged by a mindless arson attack. Up until the 1990s British Waterways were still burying vessels in spoil and rubble at the northern end of the site. Recently graffiti has appeared on one vessel and every year timber is removed for barbecues and hand made iron nails are stolen as ornaments. The Friends of Purton have been formed as an organisation to protect and raise awareness of the site. English Heritage are actively being lobbied to provide some measure of designation/protection for the site and a series of plaques and interpretation boards are being provided as funding/sponsorship allows. The Friends of Purton also run guided tours of the site.
Marine historian Paul Barnett has spent many years studying the site and has identified the vast majority of the vessels and researched their histories. I would like to thank Paul for his generosity in sharing the information that is presented here.
For further information please see the Friends of Purton website.
This unique site is constantly under threat from vandals and souvenir hunters. Name panels from the vessels made attractive ornaments and from the 1940s many of them started to disappear. In 1986 no less than eight vessels were destroyed and several others were damaged by a mindless arson attack. Up until the 1990s British Waterways were still burying vessels in spoil and rubble at the northern end of the site. Recently graffiti has appeared on one vessel and every year timber is removed for barbecues and hand made iron nails are stolen as ornaments. The Friends of Purton have been formed as an organisation to protect and raise awareness of the site. English Heritage are actively being lobbied to provide some measure of designation/protection for the site and a series of plaques and interpretation boards are being provided as funding/sponsorship allows. The Friends of Purton also run guided tours of the site.
Marine historian Paul Barnett has spent many years studying the site and has identified the vast majority of the vessels and researched their histories. I would like to thank Paul for his generosity in sharing the information that is presented here.
For further information please see the Friends of Purton website.