www.sloopphyllis.com

This is the story behind the 1907 Humber sloop that was to help fight two wars and join the search for the Loch Ness monster.

Phyllis 1907. L 68ft, B16ft.15, D 7ft.4, Official Number 124785. Yard Number 60. Sail Number 26148.

Site created May 2009

By Kath Jones & Alan Gardiner.

If anyone has any memories of working for James Barraclough or have a story about working on Phyllis or any of the Barroclough barges we would like to hear from you.
 If you have any comments or questions on the content of the site or would like to add something to it we would also like to hear from you.

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Interesting Links

Humber Keel & Sloop Preservation Society.

National Historic Ships Reg.

Goole Waterways Museum.
Dutch Barge Association.
In The Boat Shed.
Humber Packet Boats.
Leicester Trader.
Humber Yawl Club.

Sheffield Ships.

 Sloop "Amy Howson"

 Sloop "Spider T.

 Keel "Comrade".

 Keel "Daybreak".

 Keel "Southcliffe".

 Keel "Hope".

 Keel "Eden".

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The Humber Sloop Phyllis.

As a budding crew member on "Amy Howson " in 1984 I was initiated into the life of sloops and keels by the established members of the Humber Keel & Sloop Preservation Society. I quickly learned that both society ships were Sheffield size and through the archive photo's and various books became aware that this size of local sailing barge had been developed from the larger sloops that traded on the Humber and along the coast. The Sheffield and other sizes of sloop came about through the need to navigate locks of varying size on the inland rivers and canals. So the question needed to be asked; if "Amy Howson" was a Sheffield size of Humber sloop are there any Humber sloops still around? the answer given then was no!
 Fifteen years later a chance meeting gave rise to the discovery of a barge in Scotland, that barge turned out to be a sloop from the Humber built at New Holland and was 68ft long so was not a Sheffield sloop but was what could only be described as a Humber sloop, that Humber sloop was to turn out to be "Phyllis". Her story is in the following pages.
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Before Phyllis appeared back in Barton Haven there had been no attempt to restore a Humber sloop back to sail. In fact they may well have been overlooked believed by some modern maritime researchers to be "extinct" as I had found on one web site. In the past ten years Kath and I have spent countless hours researching the background to Phyllis and local vessels like her, trawling through books, documents and photographs to determine the credibility to declare that Phyllis has a place in local maritime and industrial history as the vessel she is; a Humber sloop. Phyllis is now on the National Historic Ships Register, No 2049. Historic details in this site have been gathered from a number of publications and documentation, cross referenced and correlated over the period of time that I have been involved with the HKSPS, together with accounts from some of the people who were there and my own experiences. Some details may well be challenged but the facts that appear here are as we believe them to be at the time. Many times an article concerning Phyllis has been revised over the last year that we have been preparing this site after locating proof of contradiction to some detail that we had taken as fact, and still we are correcting and expanding on some historic details as we discover more of Phyllis's and the Humber sloop's history.
 This site begins with a brief history of a Humber sloop and gives a comparison to more well known types of vessels. The aim is to bring an understanding of the roll of the Humber sloop to people interested in maritime history or to members of any heritage organisation and to put down in writing some of the background of the Humber sloops that made the River Humber a gateway to the world for the industries of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire during the 18th, 19th and 20th century. Not much has been explained in any detail about the sloops of the Humber, the keel has had most of the historic recognition in the past with often just a comment that the sloop was the same as a keel with a fore and aft rig. Only after understanding the history of the Humber sloop and its variants can people then begin to appreciate the importance of them in our regions industrial growth and its maritime heritage and after, view the progress of Phyllis's restoration over the last 11 years.
 Phyllis is not a museum ship or intended to be hired out for trips or functions, and her restoration has at times been difficult, the drive to restore her comes from the wider interest we have in the sailing barges of the Humber fuelled by meeting people with similar interest, some of whom were once a part of it. Every penny we have spent on her restoration has been spent we think wisely on a sympathetic restoration of Phyllis to an affordable standard. Above deck she has the character of a 1907 seagoing working sloop, below she will eventually be our home with all mod cons, with her we will visit festivals and maritime events when and where we can during the summer months.
  Thanks must go to the HKSPS, without them this would not have happened!

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A Brief History of the Humber Sloop.

The Humber sloop was very much influenced by the Dutch, with a single gaff rigged mast employing a loose footed main sail, self tacking foresail and a range of head and top sails the sloops traded within and between the Humber and other east coast regions from the early 18th century. Some being able to carry over 170 tons the early wooden Humber sloops were between 57ft and 68ft Loa with a beam between 16ft and 18ft, the later steel hulled sloops could be as much as 72ft Loa, all were significant in the evolution of national and international trade on the Humber being a valuable tool to the merchants who traded goods to home and foreign ports. They were the region's equivalent to the modern day coaster, providing a means of transporting large and mixed cargoes between ports on the Humber and along the east cDSCF0178 - Copyoast where shallow drafted flat bottomed vessels were essential to navigate small creeks, havens and inlets. Some would trade to the near continent with a crew of four to stand a two man alternate watch while at sea. Strongly built of oak initially using clinker construction the sloops were later built using a method employing both carvel and clinker construction, during the second half of the 19th century the construction would turn to fully carvel built vessels and by 1880 iron was beginning to be used in local yards. By the start of WW1 steel was being used throughout the shipbuilding industry but wooden craft were still also being built in yards like Dunstons at Thorne and Clapson & Son at Barton.

The Humber sloops could be divided into two basic groups; those that traded regularly to coastal ports and havens, and those that traded inland within the confines of the Humber and its tributaries. From the 19th century those in the regular coasting trade were given a Certificate of British Registry and a unique signal flag sequence that was flown while at sea for identification purposes. Rodney Clapsons book; Barton and the River Humber, ISBN 0 900959 20 7 highlights the system and gives details of many of the local sea going sloops that where given code flags.

The coasting sloops usually had two separate holds and had little need to lower their mast in the course of their work. They were rigged with either topmast or a pole mast (full length single mast) which could be rigged with a variety of topsails, the bow was short stemmed to be fitted with standing bowsprit and jib. Some flew a second jib or jib top sail, depending on the top sail arrangement they may also have been rigged with rattlings (rat lines) on the shrouds to enable the crew to work aloft, all making them more efficient at sea. From early 18th century paintings we can tell that very early wooden sloops carried a huge flat peaked main sail with the boom extended over the after deck, the popular topsail arrangement was a four sided sail hoisted on a yard rather like a dipping lug or a triangular sail hooped to the topmast and worked from aloft using the rattlings. These big seagoing sloops must have been a colourful sight on the Humber with all sails set, from remarks in his book (Humber Keels and Keelmen. ISBN 0 86138 059 2) keelman Captain Fred Schofield tells us that traditionally the seagoing sloops had tanned main and fore sails but the top and head sails were white, some however had all white sails (Ref:- Reuben Chappell, Elizabeth Ann 1860) others are depicted with all tan sails, much would depend on cost and availability as sails from de-rigged or decommissioned vessels were often used on others. They were also known to carry (depending on the captain) a square sail and yard that would be used at sea in light airs or on the inland waterways like the River Hull that they could navigate under sail making them easy to mistake for a keel on old photos. The white sails were often referred to as "Summer Sails" and would be stowed in the fore cabin in winter. The winding gear for hoisting the sails consisted of a pair of triple rollers being located each side of the mast athwart ship in the "sparring" a section of deck between the two holds, the mast was stepped in a lutchet mounted on deck. Being more of a fixture than the inland sloops with no fore stay tackle permanently rigged plus the fact that the mast was stepped between the aft and forward hold meant that it could not readily be lowered.

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              A typical late 1800's Humber sloop, "Sulpho" at anchor in the Trent. The hold arrangement can clearly be seen.

Those that didn't trade seaward had the option of a yarded topsail or a well-peaked main sail with foresail and were built with a single full-length hold. With much less rigging they were easier to manoeuvre in the locks and docks although the market sloops that seldom used any locks would carry a bowsprit and jib as could sloops employed in the sand and gravel trade. Double rollers for hoisting the sails were set against the coamings (the sides of the hold), and because they were mounted sideways on they were known at "crab" rollers. A removable mast-way provided in the hatches allowed the mast to be lowered aft between a set of short hatches. The mast stepped in its lutchet some 3ft below the hatches was lowered by means of the permanently rigged fore stay blocks controlled by a fore roller attached to the front of the hold area above deck that was known as the forward head ledge. The sail would first be unlaced from the mast hoops, and then the gaff and boom complete with the sail would be removed and stowed on the hatches. Both coasting and inland sloops had heavy oak and pitch pine leeboards operated from the aft deck by a vertical roller set into the fore end of the after rail. The seagoing sloops would probably have had a more slender leeboard than the inland working sloops where greater effect from them was desired in the strong tides and shallow water of the Humber . At sea with a light sloop the leeboards may not even have been used in some sea conditions as the ships were better balanced with their more efficient sail configuration, a loaded sloop wouldn't have used them.

Sloop dimensions where usually larger than that of the keels and the sloops were not particularly suited to working far inland from the Humber, Trent or Ouse. One disadvantage of the sloop for inland work was that it could take even a practised crew twenty minutes or more to lower the mast whereas a keel crew could have the mast down in less than ten. The restrictions on width and air draught along parts of the canal system meant that the sloops would need to unship their leeboards and mast to leave along with their cog boat at strategic points like Stainforth on the Sheffield navigation to be able to navigate the rest of the waterway. The parts of the system that could be navigated without removing the leeboards however may still involve lowering the mast at some point. Time spent lowering the rig could make the difference in engaging a horse marine or bow yanking your own barge up the canal and it was impossible for a sloop to shoot a bridge. Both being reasons why keels were preferred in the inland trade to sloops.

                        
NG-105
  The staithe at Stainforth showing the crane used to unship sailing gear, masts and spars with a collection of leeboards can be seen to the left of the crane.

However many did trade inland and this brought about the same restrictions of hull size as the keel that depended on which waterway they worked. There were ten differently named and historically recognised variations of types of keel and in turn variations of the Humber sloop used for trading inland from the Humber, none being greater than 15ft 8" beam (to outer edge of moulding) or used in the regular coasting trade. These were; Sheffield 61ft 6" by 15ft 6", Barnsley 70ft by 14ft 4", West Country 57ft 6" by 14ft 2", Manvers, Wath, Dearne & Dove 57ft 6" by 14ft 8", Driffield 61ft by 14ft 6", Louth 72ft by 15ft, Trent 74ft by 14ft 4", Lincoln 74ft by 14ft 4", Horncastle 54ft by 14ft 4", and Market Weighton 66ft by 14ft 6". Of course not all these waterways had sloops working on them, these were the domain of the keel and remained so until the motor took over from sail. The above dimensions are those that are recounted in several well read publications, however, the dimensions themselves must have altered with the evolvement of the individual waterway. A sketch in the HYC Yearbook from 1901 by George Holmes of a Sheffield size keel shows the vessel being 60ft 3" by 15ft 3". The width and length of the locks built by the local Waterway Authority and the depth of the water determined the size of vessel that could be used along the navigation forcing the cargoes to be hauled by the Authorities own craft, ensuring both navigation fee's and cargo handling fee's were collected from the owners of larger craft. Of course the narrower and shallower the canal, the cheaper it was to build.                                   

One or two captains of these smaller vessels would during the summer take on cargo's for the Wash ports like Boston and Hunstanton returning with shingle for Grimsby off the beach at Snettisham. Dick Cook of Owsten Ferry was one of these captains who along with his son and grandson as crew traded to the Wash with their sloop "Sarah" built at Gainsborough in 1889. (Fred Schofield, Humber Keels and Keelmen. ISBN 0 86138 059 2 ).   The passage into and out of the Wash was helped by the predictable tide run that flowed past the Humber and down into the Wash. 

The Sheffield size was the usual variation of the Humber sloop and is the best known and the closest comparison but of course there were many built of a size that suited their owners requirement or pocket that may well have been different to these recognised dimensions. One of the smallest sloops seen on record was "Two Brothers" at just 35ft 5" Loa by 14ft 2" beam, built at Gainsborough in 1803. (Rodney Clapson; Barton and the River Humber, ISBN 0 900959 20 7)

The bluff bow of the Sheffield sloops fitted snugly into the locks of the waterways they traded on and gave excellent buoyancy in the relatively flat water of the Ouse or Trent and could be loaded to maximum draught. It was believed by some that the buoyancy in the fore and aft end of the ship was enough to keep it afloat if the hold flooded (sadly proved wrong on several occasions). But when loaded on the Humber in rough weather water would crash up over the horse plate flooding the fore deck and down the side of the ship, if she started to nod in a series of big swells the bow would dip under water bringing her to a stand still and waves would roll over the hatches down the ship and could wash the helmsman overboard from the after deck. I remember watching motor barges as a lad heading up river past Barton with waves rolling down the hatches and breaking over the wheel house when the bow dipped in. The bows on the Humber sloops were more rounded offering less resistance and the hulls had more shear, this kept her head up when loaded, although water could often be on the side decks while sailing and the rounder bow gave better sea keeping qualities. The seagoing sloops were bound by insurance regulations regarding freeboard (the height of the deck above water) and always returned in ballast if no cargo was available helping to stabilise the ship. With their flat bottoms the sloops were well known for their ability to roll violently in a beam sea.

I just want to touch on the term "Billy boy sloop" it is heard from time to time and has had , in my view, incorrect definitions in a collection of publications. The name Billy boy was a nick name given to the men of Hull at some stage in the early 18th century, relating to the support that the people of Hull gave to King William of Orange (King Billy) after the defeat of the House of Stuart in 1688. This was commemorated by a statue of him on horseback being placed in the market of the city. As most of the sloops were owned and crewed from the Barton side of the Humber (Lincolnshire) any sloop owned or crewed from the Hull side (Yorkshire) would be referred to as a "Billy boy sloop" by the people of Barton, particularly those working the sloops. Therefore its important that the term "Billy boy sloop" (A sloop crewed by Billy boys) is not confused, as is sometimes the case, with that of a "sloop rigged Billy boy". Here the term "Billy boy" is referring to a type of vessel which is a completely different ship, although again the name is thought to have originated from the men that sailed them.

In 1840 the Humber sloops were busy with one of the most challenging haulage contracts that they could wish to undertake. The stone to rebuild the Houses of Parliament was to be cut from North Anston Quarry and transported along the Chesterfield canal by " Cuckoo" boat to be transhipped onto Humber sloops at West Stockwith for the trip down to London and up the Thames. Offloaded near to the site of the new building each sloop chartered would carrying 110 ton of stone and made the trip to London and back each week until completion. The book "Yorkshire Stone to London" (ISBN 978-0-9552609-2-6) by Christine Richardson tells the whole story.

 

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"Phyllis" pictured left off Barton in one of the Barton Sloop Regatta's. The year is unknown but judging by the condition of her sails and hull it must have been when she was fairly new. The last Barton Regatta was held in 1929, won by "Saxby" her skipper was Charlie East. We were told by the late sloopman and valued friend Charlie Atkinson that "Saxby" only won the race because they ran over the cog boat of "Zenither" owned by Fosters of Barrow Haven, she then had to tow a sunken boat allowing "Saxby" to take the lead. (This story is also told by Captain John Frank)    Sheffield size "Zenither" was later sold to Eccles to carry chalk for bank repairs and was lengthened to 90ft, her name was changed to "Eccles John" and was skippered by Ron Newton of Barton. She is now a house boat somewhere in the south and has recently come up for sale. Charlie also told us that Phyllis won the 1926 regatta but unfortunately we have no evidence of it. However, in those days photographs were only taken of meaningful events and this could be a picture of the winning vessel.                            

Although iron ships were being built in Hull from 1831 by James Livingston, progression in the use of iron and steel to build barges was much slower. Richard Dunston's yard at Thorne didn't build steel barges until 1917 and their last wooden keel in 1922, some yards like Brown and Clapsons of Barton on the other hand only ever built wooden barges, the last being the sloop "Peggy" in 1935. The use of firstly iron and soon after steel in the construction of barges in the Humber region didn't commence until around 1880 when the coasting trade for the sloops was fading and merchants wanted cheaper ships. Iron vessels started to be produced of similar dimension to the wooden sloops but with one continuous hold, amongst other things this gave the vessel the ability to lower its mast more readily. Using again Dutch influences, a topping-up or steeving bowsprit was used set over the horse plate and pivoted from a stanchion set behind the anchor windlass or later, a hinged bracket arrangement bolted to the stem, both gave a degree of flexibility in the cargos that were undertaken and allowed navigation of at least some of the inland locks and rivers, something that was required in the battle with the progress of the rail network. With the downturn in coasting trade at this time not many of the steel sloops would work coastal.

   
Sloop z1
                 The Humber sloop "Sulpho" in full sail on the Ouse. She ran phosphate between Howden Dyke and Boston.

With evidence from the Mariners Mirror in a 1950's article by John Frank, brickyard owner and captain of the sloop Nero, we can determine that the cutter-rigged sloops with their contrasting white and tan sails had begun to disappear around 1910. By then the sea going trade for the sloops had gone largely to the faster and more able ketch rigged Billy boys, steamers and schooners. With rail connections spreading fast and the rail companies now controlling the canals there was no requirement to use the creeks and havens of the east coast to deliver or collect produce and materials. A large number of the sailing barges, sloop or keel built after this time to work on the Humber in general cargo were of Sheffield size and motor barges were starting to appear in greater numbers, many also Sheffield size. Perhaps the reason for the popularity of the Sheffield size of vessel was in the relative cheapness of building them or their ability to carry a significant amount of cargo in the sometimes demanding environment of the Humber and still be able to trade well inland. Dave Robinson from the HKSPS once described the Sheffield size sloops and keels as "the Transit vans of their day", reflecting their wide and varied use. It is a testimony to their versatility that many of these size of Humber sailing barge, predominantly the keel survive today, not only the length and breadth of England but they have been seen in France, Holland and Germany. The examples that I am aware of are; Sheffield sloops; "Amy Howson" and "Spider T", the little market sloop "Karma" went to Germany. Sheffield keels; "Comrade", "Daybreak", "Southcliffe", "Onesimus", "Hope", "Eden". All these are either rigged or will be in the near future. There are a few genuine (most are not) Sheffield keels that come up for sale on the internet from time to time that have been converted to live aboard, "Shirecliffe" is just one of them, the keel "Danum" is in France I believe. There are many Sheffield size motor barges that are still around; "Dritan", "Sectan", "Richard", "Service", "Enterprise" and Syntan for example, Lincoln keel "Misterton" and Dearne and Dove keel "Pioneer" are other early but now un-rigged sailing barges still around. The list could be long so I'll stop now. Sorry if I missed someone.

HYC PrintGone was the sight of the powerfully rigged Humber sloops beating to windward through Hull Roads in the short Humber swell to make the Old Harbour before the ebb. The threat of being sunk by mine or U-boat at the start of WW1 brought an end to the regular coasting trade for the sloop, never to return after the war. In the years between the wars the majority of sloops and keels on the Humber had been de-rigged and fitted with an engine, toward the start of the WW2 this was done using an MOD grant, most were fitted with a wheel house at the same time or soon after. Phyllis however wasn't registered as having an engine until 1943 and a wheel house was fitted in 1962 with her second engine, the HKSPS sloop "Amy Howson" never was fitted with a wheel house.

So came the demise of trade under sail on the Humber that concluded with the de-rigging of the last Humber sloop still sailing, Barraclough's "Sprite" in 1950. Sprite had been built in 1910 for Scott's of Selby at W H. Warrens, yard number 79 at 68ft Loa by 17ft 6" beam with a depth of hold of 7ft 6". Her last captain under sail was Jack Chant of Barton.

 Phyllis, presumably as with other Humber sloops of her time designed and built by the Warren family like Nancy, John William, Elma AB and Sprite, had been built to the same relatively fine lines as her 19th century wooden hulled predecessors and dates from the final chapter of the sea going cutter-rigged sloops having been launched in 1907. As far as we can determine Phyllis has never had a cutter rig or worked further away from the Humber than Withernsea just north of Spurn Point but she has a Certificate of British Registry, No 58/1907, something required if any vessel was intended to work seaward but is not proof she did. In many cases these ships were used to secure loans and were mortgaged to the banks, they would first have to be British registered ships. Eventually she will be making voyages with us along the coast so she has now been cutter-rigged with steeving bowsprit. Her sail plan is based on the sea going sloops of the late 19th century subtly modified to take advantage of her underwater lines and the fact that she doesn't have to work for a living any more without detriment to her authenticity. As no wooden examples of a Humber sloop now exist she is, at present, the only vessel to be able to accurately represent those in hull shape and size and of course more accurately the later iron vessels. She is also able to demonstrate the type of vessel and sailing rig that made such an impact on trade to and from the Humber region through the industrial revolution and toward the end of the 19th century helping to bring about the growth of Hull, Goole and Grimsby into World-renowned international trade ports and enabled trade from the north and south east of the country to revolve around the Humber.

 

[Humber Sloop] [The Building] [Documents] [Sloop Plans] [Phyllis at Work] [Families] [Loch Ness] [The Rescue] [The Journey Home] [The Restoration.]

More pages of the history and restoration of "Phyllis" will be added to this site as it develops.