Newport ship
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The Newport ship is a 15th century sailing vessel discovered by archaeologists in June 2002 in the city of Newport, south Wales. The original length of the ship was around 80 feet (25 metres), and it would have been quite capable of continental voyages.It was found on the west bank of the River Usk, which runs through the city centre, whilst building a new arts centre; from which process it sustained some damage. There were no initial plans to preserve the ship in its entirety, and local people campaigned heavily to ensure this would occur. Initial estimates suggested that preservation would cost about £3.5 million. This sum was found by the Welsh Assembly Government and Newport City Council. All the timbers have subsequently been raised and transferred to a dedicated industrial unit which the local council describes as "now the biggest wood conservation centre in the UK", where preservation and research continue. It has been proposed that following conservation the ship be displayed in the basement of the Riverfront Arts Centre in whose foundations it was nearly entombed.
Artefacts found on the ship suggest that it was trading with Portugal in the fifteenth century. It is possible that the abundance of articles linked with Portugual argues for the ship being built there, as well as trading there. It evidently required maintenance and repair at times in its life. Dendrochronology has given a likely felling date of 1465 and 1466 for some of the timbers used in both construction and repairs. Remnants of a cradle were found beneath the ship, suggesting that it was berthed for repair and then abandoned.
[edit] Condition, dimensions and structure
The condition of the ship's timbers is excellent, due largely to the low oxygen level in the mud of the River Usk which inhibits the presence of wood-boring creatures. Unfortunately the port (left) side of the ship has been cut down about 9 feet (2.74 metres) above the keel, but it has preserved the correct shape of the hull. The starboard (right) side is preserved to almost its full height, but collapsed onto the mud long ago and the frames and some planking has distorted as a result. The ship's dimensions are around 84½ feet (25 metres) in length and around 26 feet (8 metres) wide. However, recent work suggests that the ship's overall length may be slightly longer than this. The vessel is clinker built i.e. each plank overlaps the one below, the lower plank always being on the inside of the one above. The planks of the outer hull are positioned first and, on the Newport Ship, are secured to each other by iron nails driven through the overlap from the outside and then fitted with iron rove plates. The end of each nail is then hammered flat against the rove to produce a tight seal. Gaps along the overlap are secured by caulking with tar and animal hair. So far, hair from horse, cow, sheep and goat has been identified. Frames (ribs) of the ship are then fitted inside the hull and secured to the planks. Each framing piece is secured to the keel (spine) of the ship by having its keel cutout placed over the keel and held by precision of fit. Nails and trenails were not used to secure frames to keel. The keel is made of beech, but the rest of the ship is made of oak. At present no one can suggest a reason for this. One possible explanation is a simple shortage of oak at a time when quantities of high-quality beech were available. Almost all woodworking on the ship has been done using axe and adze, with saw marks found on only a few timbers. The inner hull of the ship is made up of stringers (large long planks that give the ship its longitudinal strength) and ceiling planks that fit between the stringers to produce a strong, smooth inner surface. They are secured to the frames by trenails (wooden cylinders about 2 inches (5.1 cm) wide and about 10 inches (25.4 cm) long driven through pre-drilled holes in both timbers. Cleaning of the timbers is progressing and has led to the discovery, on the planking of the outer hull, of a series of marks deliberately scribed in to the timbers. These appear to be either individual shipwright's marks or instructions for the positioning of planks or fastenings. The conservation team are hoping that a pattern will emerge as the recording process continues. During the summer of 2007, the cleaning of barrel top fragments revealed merchant marks. Some of these resemble known marks of merchants from the city of Bristol, but this is not proof that they originated there.
[edit] Dating the ship
Initial dendrochronology on specimen timbers produced a date of 1465-1466, but it is now thought that these are repair pieces and that the ship itself is older than this. The discovery in the spring of 2006 of a French "petit blanc" (small white) silver coin inserted into a cut out in the stempost/keel join was a major step forward. Placed, perhaps, as a token of good fortune at the start of the ship's construction, this coin was only minted in the Dauphinois in France between 1445 - 1456. So the Newport Ship could not have been built before 1445. Similarly, the tree trunks found under the hull and forming the support for the ship when under repair, have a dendrochronology date of 1468 - 1469. Very provisionally, this would give the ship a maximum working life span of c. 25 years.
[edit] Artefacts
There is not yet sufficient evidence to establish where the ship was built. Severe (but ancient) damage to the Mast-Step of the ship may be the reason why the vessel was brought into Newport for repair. Why the ship was then abandoned is currently unknown. During excavation several hundred objects were found within the ship. These range from a stone cannon ball to grape seeds and include a damaged hour glass, an expensive shoe, pieces of cork and some Portuguese coins. The seeds, cork and coins would suggest trade to and from the Iberian peninsula and the presence of Merino sheep wool in the caulking material supports this idea; but is not conclusive proof.
Most current funding comes from the Heritage Lottery Fund with smaller contributions from the National Assembly for Wales and Newport City Council.
[edit] Project Progress
The first stage of the restoration project; the cleaning and recording of the timbers, was completed in April 2008. The next stage; the conservation of the timbers, will begin later in 2008. This will involve immersing the timbers in polyethylene glycol solution for an extended period. Before this begins, some timbers will need to be treated with ammonium citrate to neutralise a reaction caused by iron residues in the nail holes of the outer hull planking.
[edit] Viewing
Newport City Council arranges open days when the ship can be viewed in its current state of restoration along with exhibits to explain the restoration process. Please refer to www.thenewportship.com or to www.newport.gov.uk for details of open days.
