1897
DAWN was built in Maldon, Essex in the late 1890s for James Keeble, a local merchant and bargeowner by the jobbing shipwright Walter Cook. She was launched in 1897, from the North Wall Yard, close to Maldon Hythe Quay.
After launching, DAWN went into the stackie trade for which she was designed, taking horse feed to London and returning with manure for the farms. Stackie barges had a very wide beam so they could carry a stack and a shallow draft to traverse the creeks and swatchways of the East Anglian farming communities.
Cargoes of mangolds for horse feed were stowed in the hold and a stack of hay or straw of up to 50 tons was built on deck to mid-way up the mainmast. The stackie barge had special mainsails and foresails, that could be adjusted so that only half the sail was set above the stack.
When the stack freight was loaded the man at the wheel or tiller could not see where he was going. The mate had to stand atop the stack and shout down to the skipper which way to steer. It was a very specialised trade and called for considerable skill.
DAWN was reckoned by the older skippers to be the handiest of the stackie barges, the only one never to lose a stack over the side.
1930
The depression of the mid 1930's proved the death knell of the trading barge. Numerous barges were moored on the "starvation" buoys off Woolwich for weeks on end waiting for a cargo.
This corresponded with development of the motor lorry just prior to the Second World War. Although the remaining barges were kept busy during the war years, the gradual decline had started.
Most of the smaller barges were abandoned during this period, apart from a few who were used as lighters. Fortunately, these included the DAWN.
1939
At the start of World War II, DAWN was commandeered by the Government for war service and was loaded with supplies for the British Expeditionary Force fighting in northern France. Barges were found to be particularly useful at Dunkirk as they could go right up to the beach to pick up the men.
DAWN was taken to Dover on her way to Dunkirk where the evacuation of troops had already begun. She was hit by an Admiralty tug in the harbour and started to make water and was thus compelled to return to Maldon. Although she does appear on the register of the Dunkirk Little Ships.
1933
In 1933, DAWN was sold to Francis & Gilders, Colchester, to transfer corn and timber from ships to the mills and merchants of Maldon, Colchester and Ipswich. In 1951 she was fitted with a 44hp engine.
In the mid-1950 s DAWN was sold to a timber merchants and stripped of all her gear and engine. She became one of the lighters who carried timber from ships anchored in the River Blackwater to the Heybridge Basin.
This work continued for a decade but eventually even this commercial work had no further use for a wooden barge.
1965
Gordon Swift found her a couple of years later. "She was being used as a dumb barge when I saw her", he said. "She was a sorry sight, but then again magnificent".
With the help of two shipwrights Gordon put the mast and sails back on the DAWN and launched her and himself into the charter business.
As a flat bottomed boat, the DAWN was ideal for many trips by birdwatchers, photographic cruises, or just people who wanted to experience what it was like to be on a sailing barge.
DAWN then passed into the care of the Passmore Edwards museum in Newham. Still retaining Captain Swift as skipper, DAWN took thousands of inner London, school children on adventure weekends, giving them the chance to experience at first hand what they had only read about in school books.
"It was the best time I spent on her," said Captain Swift. "Just seeing the youngsters getting so much out of it was magnificent. We'd drop them off on Osea Island and they'd come back on board laden with all sorts of shells and sea ferns.
There is something about young people and barges which is hard to explain", he said. "We had very few problems. It was as if the DAWN kept them occupied and happy".
For the next 14 years, children flooded into Maldon, spending anything up to a week on the barge, learning about sailing and working together. During this time, the DAWN also won barge races and featured in some TV films. On Maldon's 800th anniversary, she was decked out in bunting and admired by the Queen
In 1992, she was sent to a yard on the River Medway for major rebuilding work, but the money ran out.
She lay in dry dock for 6 years where she began to deteriorate. Her timbers cracked and the rainwater got in.
She was vandalised and much of her equipment disappeared.
1999
Unable to leave his beloved barge to rot, Captain Swift appealed to friends and acquaintances for help. The group of engineers, maritimers and friends formed The Dawn Sailing Barge Trust.
A berth was given to the DAWN by Maldon District Council and the Trust raised enough money to stop her from rotting. She had deteriorated so much, she was unable to sail back on her own and had to be brought home inside another ship.
A Dutch coaster called the JOHNO was towed to Hoo and sunk in a creek. DAWN was floated out at high tide and towed over the sunken coaster. As the tide fell, DAWN settled into the previously prepared blocks in the JOHNO's hold. Then the holes that had been cut in the side of the JOHNO were welded up and the coaster floated on the tide.
DAWN was then towed to Maldon where she sat inside the JOHNO close to the Maldon yard where she was built in 1897.
The DAWN was rebuilt at Heybridge Basin by a team of shipwrights funded by local donations, charities and by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
During this process visitors experienced the restoration work first hand joining our volunteers for working days; it was a rush at the end of the job to get everything painted and ship-shape, but Dawn was ready more or less on time, and in July 2008 had her first sail in the Blackwater barge match, achieving third in her class, not bad for a maiden voyage.
Present
The Dawn is now based at West Mersea on the River Blackwater Essex, and is available for
Day charters, Static Events, Barge Matches, Bird Watching, or just to spend a summer evening aboard enjoying a supper while watching the magnificent sunsets unique to this part of the River Blackwater.
The Dawn now needs the financial help and support of a wider membership to keep her sailing and so to make this happen join us as a member and complete the Membership Form on the Home Page.
DAWN has already lasted for 100 years. We hope that our restored DAWN may last for double that now that she will not be working under such rigorous conditions. The money is well spent and the DAWN will go on quietly sailing the estuaries and swatchways of the East Coast for many generations to come.
Latest News
Later this year Dawn will appear as the star in a BBC 1 program called River Journeys with Griff Rhys Jones, but more on that when details are released by the BBC
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