Call for Woollen blankets in UK for Sutton Hoo ship replica

[Louie da fly]

The Sutton Hoo ship replica is now ready for planking, and the builders have put out an appeal for woollen blankets to use for caulking between the strakes.

 

Anybody in the UK who wants to donate blankets, I'm sure they would be gratefully received. 

 

https://saxonship.org/?fbclid=IwAR2GOjy1YvC5l2ZmSSgF3cx98Wvs2ZIbasDdh-JLq1Jgz_09ezGK9JZTDMQ

 

Steven

Edited January 7, 2023 by Louie da fly

[Bob Cleek]

I'd be interested in knowing whether there is any archaeological evidence of woven wool cloth being used as "caulking" in the manner depicted by saxonship.org's website.  Since none of the wooden hull survived the centuries, it's hard to believe there is any evidence of woolen woven material used in the Sutton Hoo ship. It's surely unlike any clinker planking technique I've ever encountered before.

 

From the project's website:

 

 

Clinker or lapstrake planking is always plainsawn, not quartersawn, as it is with carvel planking. Clinker planking is generally not caulked at all. The flat plainsawn planks swell tightly against one another at the laps. There's no way to drive caulking between the laps without damaging the lapstrake plank seams. (Although, today's clinker builders often resort to some poly-something goop to avoid the need to permit a dry stored boat to take up or to compensate for plywood's lack of swelling at all.) As pictured above, they have quarter-sawn (edge-grained) planking with a rather thin lap and what they claim is woolen fabric laid flat between the lap. I can't see how that piece of fabric adds much of anything at all to "caulking" a lapped seam that doesn't require any caulking in the first place. Moreover, I don't believe the builders in that era even had sawing technology. I could be wrong on this, but I believe they got out their plank by splitting it from the trunk and then shaping it with broad axes, adzes, and draw knives. That alone would preclude quarter sawn planking.

 

I am unsure whether the Norse ships that have been discovered with their wood intact in Scandanavia were constructed identically to the Saxon period English vessels. I also was of the impression that none of the wood hull of the Sutton Hoo ship survived the elements, save to leave a "ghost" impression in the surrounding soil which permitted some very rudimentary measurement of her midship lines. (Any trace of the bow and stern were gone completely when excavated.) I do know that all the Science Museum's records on the Sutton Hoo ship (which was excavated immediately prior to WWII) were destroyed in the Blitz. I am unsure whether the Norse ships that have been discovered with their wood intact in Scandanavia were constructed identically the Saxon period English vessels. However it would appear this "replica" ship is really going to be another "educated guess" a in the case of Columbus' ships of discovery, Drake's Golden Hinde, Mayflower, a host of other "replicas" extant today.

 

I'm not knocking replicas. They have their place and any boat is fine, some are just finer than others. This outfit has some nice CGI depictions of their ambitions, but I'm afraid they need to realize that there's many a slip between the cup and the lip.

[Louie da fly]

Bob, you're right that nothing survived of the Sutton Hoo ship's hull except the impression made in the sand. There are plenty of photos showing the excavation which ake this very obvious, apart from books which describe the state of the ship at the time and the procedure used to excavate it.

 

I'm not qualified to comment on the need or otherwise for caulking on a clinker-built ship, but yes, as far as I know (given the minimal information available) the planks for ships of this time and region were split rather than sawn. The only saws recovered from Viking sites are fairly small, and the shipbuilding panels in the Bayeux Tapestry don't show saws in use, only axes of various types, and drills. There is a wonderful manuscript illumination from France in about 1170 of a bow-saw being used to cut the prophet Isaiah in half, which is the earliest illustration I know of showing one in use.

But that's a different region, and over 500 years later (a little gruesome, but it's art, so that makes it ok. You ought to see some of Durer's pictures of mass martyrdoms - talk about graphic).

 

 

Steven

Edited January 8, 2023 by Louie da fly

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, Louie da fly said:

You ought to see some of Durer's pictures of mass martyrdoms - talk about graphic).

That may be a worthy excuse for some thread drift!  

[Louie da fly]

Don't tempt me . . .

[druxey]

And let's not mention Goya's etchings of the Disasters of War....

[Louie da fly]

OK. I think this thread is officially derailed . . . If you want to see some real "ouch!" pics, the martyrdom of Isaiah is a real gold mine. On second thought, you really don't want to see them . . . this is one of the least horrific ones.

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Louie da fly

[Jaager]

To focus on the part of this that I find to be worth real interest - How much of it is good for building a serious model? ....

So Sutton Ho is from between 400 and 800 - given the burial mound bit - probably closer to the 400 part?

There are no definitive lines.   Any plans available from the current operation would be a guess? 

Yet another replica aimed at tourists and not advertising that it is just a likely to have as much wrong as correct?

 

The construction technology is invaluable from an academic perspective.

[Bob Cleek]

5 hours ago, Jaager said:

Any plans available from the current operation would be a guess? 

From what I can see from their literature, about the only archaeological data on the Sutton Hoo ship that exists is an approximation of its length. The  Sutton Hoo "replica" will actually be a replica of one of the Scandanavian ships that was excavated intact, more or less. The stem and stern of the Sutton Hoo ship was non-existent when discovered. The presence of any wood was indicated only by a discoloration in the sand. All the archaeological field notes and other research records were reportedly destroyed in the Blitz. It's one of those famous ships the actual appearance of which is unknown and unknowable.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[Roger Pellett]

We can thank Netflix for all of this.  My wife and I did enjoy the movie.