Registration number 659
Status Registered
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Details

Function Cargo Vessel
Subfunction Barge
Location Guildford
Vessel type Wey Barge
Current use Museum based
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Stevens, William & Sons, Guildford
Built in 1931
Hull material Wood
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
14.00 feet (4.27m)
Depth
4.10 feet (1.25m)
Length: Overall
73.00 feet (22.27m)

History

Built in 1931 for William Stevens & Sons of Guildford, RELIANCE is a barge of oak construction which operated on the Wey Navigations. Little can be told of her working life but it came to an end in 1968 when she was badly damaged in a collision on the River Thames. In 1989 she was lying at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex as a rotting hulk when found by the National Trust who were searching for a surviving example of a Wey Navigations’ barge. They took her to Dapdune Wharf at Guildford (where she was built) and a major restoration was undertaken. She is now exhibited in a dry berth supervised by the National Trust.

Sources

National Trust Newsletter: Tales of the Riverbank, Spring 1996

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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