About
admin June 20th, 2008
This unique project was inspired by the River Severn and by the collection of ancient dugout boats in Shrewsbury’s Rowley’s House Museum. Its aim was to help bring the rich heritage of the River Severn alive and, through a mix of participation, learning and paddling, to enable local people to make tangible links with the past.
On 10th June 2006 a massive oak log, locally grown and weighing over four tons, was delivered to the Quarry Park, Shrewsbury. A team of expert woodcarvers and experimental archaeologists then assembled to create a temporary boat-building site next to the river and to set about transforming this huge mass of wood into a working dugout boat. After four weeks they had produced a near-replica of the Museum’s ‘Ellesmere’ Dugout. The finished boat is 4.5 metres (fifteen feet) long and weighs roughly 400 kilos (900 lb). It was launched on the Severn before a huge