INDUSTRIES 



taken for the purpose 80 tons of timber from the 

 woods at Warminghurst without the king's 

 licence, the ship was seized the following year 

 while still upon the stocks (super palos), and lack- 

 ing ' pychyng, rosenyng, hecchyng, calfatyng, 

 and takelyng.' 1] For some time after this date 

 no details touching this industry appear to be 

 available. In 1580 the constable and leading 

 landsman at Brighton was a ship carpenter, 113 

 but the chief seat of the industry was clearly at 

 Rye, for it was stated in 1581 that the towns of 

 Brighton, Meeching (Newhaven), Eastbourne, 

 Lydd, Romney, Hythe, Folkestone, Dover, the 

 Downs, Sandwich, and the Isle of Thanet all 

 came to have their barques and fishing boats 

 built at Hastings, Rye, and Winchelsea, 114 and 

 of these the latter was practically extinct as a 

 port, and Hastings was little better. Shoreham, 

 however, soon began to rival the eastern port, 

 and rapidly surpassed it, becoming, early in the 

 seventeenth century, the chief centre of ship- 

 building in the county. 116 Further west, ships 

 were being built at Arundel at least as early as 

 1630, as ships built in that port were exempt 

 from paying ' anchorage ' and ' boomage ' when 

 passing up the river on their first trip ; and in 

 1675 it was said that Arundel 'enjoys a good 

 trade ; several ships being here built, as of late 

 the Society and MaryJ &c. 116 The reason for 

 the establishment of the industry at these two 

 places is given in an Admiralty report of 1728, 

 which names Shoreham and Arundel as 



eminent for building of ships, hoys, and ketches the 

 first at Shoreham, the latter at Arundel ; and they 

 are great builders because of the vast quantity of large 

 timber which this part of England produces more 

 plentifully than elsewhere. 117 



Nor was it only in quantity that the advantage 

 lay 



the quality of the oak timber may be collected from 

 the circumstance of the Navy contractors preferring it 

 in all their agreements and stipulating for Sussex before 

 every other species of oak. 118 



During the nineteenth century the Sussex ship- 

 building trade may be said to have been in a 

 flourishing condition. In i849 119 Shoreham was 

 'noted for its shipbuilding, in which above 100 

 men are generally employed,' several vessels of 

 over 500 tons ' remarkable for swift sailing ' 

 having been launched there. At Lewes there 

 was a small yard, Rye had three yards, at 

 Hastings ' some of the finest schooners in the 

 Mediterranean trade' were built. In 1851 

 there were at Hastings 16 shipbuilders and 



111 Mem. R., K.R. 3 Hen. IV, East. m. 16. 



113 Suss. Arch. Coll. ii, 49. 



111 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. pt. iv, 76. 



115 See ante ' Maritime Hist.' 



116 Saw. Arch. Coll. xix, 158. 



10 boatbuilders, 120 while the census returns for 

 that year show a total for the county of 297 

 shipwrights and 38 boatbuilders, the combined 

 total of the two trades in 1871 being 355. 

 About this latter date vessels up to 200 tons 

 were being built at Rye, but by 1882 only small 

 craft were issuing from the two yards which 

 were still working there. Of these two yards 

 the larger, that of Mr. James Hoad, built 



chiefly for ports outside Sussex. The smaller vessels 

 go to Ramsgate, say from 35 to 50 tons measurement ; 

 the next in size, varying from 50 to 60 tons, go to 

 Lowestoft, and the vessels larger still, say from 70 to 

 75 tons, to Grimsby. 1 " 



For this last port Mr. Hoad was also building 

 ' well-vessels ' of about 90 tons for the convey- 

 ance of live cod, &c. The vessels from this 

 yard were 



what is called carvel-built, the planks being fitted 

 square upon the ribs, in contradistinction to the over- 

 lapping of planks termed clinker-building in use at 

 Hastings, and the diagonal principle, which is com- 

 mon for life-boats and is adopted by his local rivals, 

 Messrs. Clarke. 1 " 



The largest ships, ranging from 500 to 1,000 tons, 

 were at this time built at Littlehampton, 123 where 

 Mr. Harvey, of Rye, had established in 1846 a 

 yard which is still in the hands of his successors, 

 Messrs. J. & W. B. Harvey. In 1882 Hastings 

 had still a reputation for fast-sailing yachts, 

 Mr. Tutt's yard which, 



at the Great Exhibition of 1851 took two prizes, the 

 one with a lifeboat, the other with a fishing-boat, 

 which was judged the best of its kind for the purpose 



having turned out, amongst others, 



the lugger-yacht New Moon, of 209 tons, built for 

 Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, of which yacht the Yacht- 

 ing Magazine said in 1886 that she was considered 

 ' the ablest sea boat of her class and tonnage in the 

 world.' "' 



The yachts built at Shoreham by Messrs. Stow 

 had also a good reputation, a special feature being 

 their roominess and excellent internal planning. 125 

 Messrs. Hutchinson at Worthing also turned out 

 sailing boats, the Skylark of Captain Fred Collins 

 being especially well known to Brighton visitors. 126 

 The trade, however, has decreased ; in 1901 

 there were only 181 actual shipwrights and boat- 

 builders and 82 'others' employed in the trade. 

 Of boat builders fourteen firms remain, four 

 being at Brighton ; yachts are built by Messrs. 

 Courtney & Birkett at Southwick, Gausden & 

 Sisk at Eastbourne, and Suter at Shoreham. 

 Besides Messrs. Harvey's yard at Littlehampton 

 the only firms of shipbuilders are Messrs. G. and 

 T. Smith at Rye, and T. Apps at Bosham. 



17 Ibid, xi, 1 8 1. 



18 Young, op. cit. 164. 



19 Lewis, Topog. Diet. ofEngl. (ed. 1849). 



1 * Hastings Past and Present, 84. 

 111 Suss. Industries, 59. 

 118 Ibid. 59. 

 186 Ibid. 64. 



182 Ibid. 60. 

 124 Ibid. 63. 

 126 Ibid. 66. 



235 



