Name MV Severn Princess

1.  What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric? Evidence for designs, functions, techniques, processes, styles, customs and habits or uses and associations in relation to events and people. How early, intact or rare these features are may impact on significance.

Launched by the Yorkshire Dry Dock Company of Hull in 1959, SEVERN PRINCESS was built as a ferry for a route that had been expanded to include vehicle traffic since 1931.  Her design shows refinement from earlier craft, with the capacity to carry up to 19 vehicles in addition to passengers and bicycles.  To load the maximum number of vehicles via side ramps, a manually operated turntable was installed in the deck forward of amidships. This innovation is credited to Ida Williams, wife of Enoch who restarted the ferry link in 1926. She took inspiration from turntables used on the rail network to rotate trains.  Vehicles would embark using the hydraulically driven side ramps and then be positioned via the turntable to drive into parking locations on the deck. On disembarking, the reverse process would see vehicles driving on to the turntable to be rotated to align with port or starboard ramps to allow them to drive off. SEVERN PRINCESS is the only surviving example of this technology known to exist, since the design differs from other turntable ferries in Scotland, such as MV Glenachulish, where the entire vehicle deck rotates. She was sold to new owners in Ireland in 1966. Repeated beaching caused damage to the hull and she was found laid up in an abandoned state in 1999. Subsequent conservation work has been sympathetic to the original design and construction. Her turntable mechanism has been returned to operational condition having been cemented up during her time in Ireland. Other work has included preparing and recoating the hull and superstructure. The original two stroke diesel engines were replaced during her operating life and the current engines have now been removed along with all other machinery. Her wooden wheelhouse and car deck has also been removed, exposing the steel deck below.  The hull and structure are original, with her profile largely remaining unchanged. 

2.  What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence?

Associations with people or places. Off-ship research.

SEVERN PRINCESS was the last ferry built for the ancient crossing from Aust in England to Beachley nr Chepstow in Wales which, since Roman times up to the opening of the first Severn road bridge in 1966, had avoided a 55-mile alternative land route via Gloucester when crossing between Wales and England.  This historic ferry route provided business and travel opportunities for members of the public, with traffic figures showing over 200,000 vehicles a year being transported in the final years of operation. The rights were owed by the Duke of Beaufort, and the crew were predominantly local men from Sedbury and Chepstow, with some from nearby Aust and Pilning giving SEVERN PRINCESS a strong association to the area, with several families having multiple members employed by the company, some spanning several generations.

Passenger lists were never recorded, but the route was travelled by a full cross-section of society. An article published in the Bristol Week-End dated Wednesday 20 March 1963, listed HM Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, Prince Philip, Princess Marina, the King of Greece, Haile Selassie and Lloyd George, as just a few examples of Royalty and politicians who had used the route. Pop stars are also well represented, with the Beatles taking the crossing in 1965 heading to their last concert in Cardiff, whilst in May 1966 Bob Dylan was photographed for an album cover on the Aust side of the crossing waiting for the SEVERN PRINCESS to carry him over to Wales on his concert tour. 

The ferry route has been documented in publications and film, most recently in the book “Severn Enterprise” by Christopher Jordan and the 2021 ITV series titled "Vanished Wales” with a follow-up book to accompany the series planned.  SEVERN PRINCESS was recorded on the National Register of Historic Vessels in 2023.

3.   How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function?

Overall aesthetic impact of the vessel, her lines, material she was built from and her setting. Does she remain in her working environment?

The design of SEVERN PRINCESS gives her a workboat aesthetic whose purpose is evident from her lines and profile.  Her open deck is clearly intended for vehicle parking with minimal space taken up by superstructure and bridge. All her machinery was positioned below deck level.  The dimensions of her steel hull were designed to maximize the number of cars that could be carried, whilst her keel-less shallow drafted hull was specifically required, given the large tidal range of the Severn estuary.  Her twin engines and single rudder provided sufficient power to fight the flow of the tide and aid maneuverability. Raised bulwarks and side opening hydraulically operated ramps also ensured that the vessel could be safely operated in the choppy conditions sometimes encountered when the wide and tide were against each other.  Her wheelhouse, constructed of wood and glass, was raised high above the deck to give the skipper a clear view as he approached the piers to moor.  Fortunately, the vessel’s later utilisation as a cargo carrying ferry in Ireland, has not significantly impacted on her original form. SEVERN PRINCESS is now kept ashore under preservation in Chepstow, fittingly close to the Beachley slip that she operated from.  It is hoped that she will form part of a museum on the history of this important ferry route between England and Wales. 

Sources:

The Severn Princess Preservation Trust

Authors:

The Severn Princess Preservation Trust & NHS-UK

May 2025