Key details
Dimensions and specifications
- Length (m / ft)
- 10.8 / 35ft 5in
- Beam (m / ft)
- 1.3 / 4ft 3in
Design and build
- Place of build
- Congo
Current status
- Present use
- Store
History
This vast logboat was rescued from a hedgerow in Sussex after it had been there for about 75 years during which time its bottom rotted away: and the hull split in half.
The most likely story is that it was presented by the local people to the chief engineer called Alfred Lawley, who was working in about 1905 on the construction of the Beira-Mashonaland Railway. They gave it to him so that he could prove that the railway had reached their lake and so that he could demonstrate the excellence of his railway by getting this massive boat down to the sea and back to England – indeed to his own lake in Sussex.
After it had arrived back in England it was taken by cart and eight horses to Alfred Lawley’s estate where it rolled off the cart and under a hedge, where it lay for the next 75 years! During this time its bottom, at least 10” thick rotted away.
The museum rescued it in 1982 and we are indebted to Socknersh Manor Estate near Burwash, for donating the boat and to Mr Stephen Keeling for drawing our attention to it. DG
Sold at auction 26 July 2017. GH 15/8/17