Greenwich Industrial History Society, Issue 51

THE VICTUALLING WHARF WALL AT DEPTFORD: COLLAPSE AND REPLACEMENT IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY

By Janet Macdonald

In February 1809, the Victualling Board wrote to the Navy Board to inform them that they were having problems with the wall of the victualling wharf at Deptford. Water was seeping through the wall into the wine cellar, which was likely to cause the iron hoops of the casks to rot. The Inspector of repairs, Samuel Hobbs, had reported that the wall had sunk and split, leaving chasms through which the water entered at high tide and retreated at low tide, taking with it the soil behind the wall and causing the pavement above to sink. This was likely to worsen if not attended to; he recommended excavating down to the base of the wall and refilling with clay or puddle (a mixture of clay and sand) and also adding piles to secure the land ties and relieve the pressure on them.

Remarking that the wharf had already been repaired several times under the direction of the Inspector General of Naval Works, he suggested the architect at the Navy Office, Mr. Holt, should be asked to advise.

Two days later, the Victualling Board wrote again to report that Henry Garrett, the agent victualler at Deptford, who had checked at high tide, reported that the water was now damaging the boundary wall between the victualling and dock yards, this being exacerbated by rat runs to the pea store and flesh cellars and between the seasoning house and the old cooperage, the water rising over the floor sufficiently to stop the coopers working. The Navy Board's response, which did not come until two weeks later, was to the effect that the problem was caused by broken drains from the settling of the ground, and that these would have to be replaced. This presumably was done, as there is no more correspondence in the Victualling Board records until October 1811, when the Victualling Board reported to the Navy Board that the ground on the wharf between two of the cranes had 'fell in very much' and that the mudsills had been forced off the foundations, causing the wall to split. This in turn had caused cracks in the groined [sic] arches of the cellars and the party walls of the new storehouses.

A month later, they wrote again to the Navy Board to pass on the agent victualler's report that at low tide 'the ground at the back of the wall [had] sunk down with a great crash' which broke the land ties. The Inspector of Repairs urged immediate action and the Victualling Board asked for the Civil Architect and Engineer to give his opinion.

Initial attempts to solve the problem seem to have been restricted to trying to press the wall down into a more solid foundation, the Victualling Board asking the Navy Board to borrow 600 tons of iron ballast for this purpose, then returning this three months later. Another three months passed, then the Victualling Board asked for cinder ashes from the smitheries in the dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich to mix with ground lime and ballast for repair work, but none of this seems to have worked, as in March 1813 the Victualling Board asked for the Navy Board's surveyor of buildings to make an inspection and give his opinion on the necessary repairs.

Nothing seems to have been done, as in October the Victualling Board reported that the previous day's high tide had made one end of the wharf shift and settle, and requesting an inspection and recommendation that they would create temporary versions above the coffer dam.

However, in November 1817, the Victualling Board wrote once more to the Admiralty secretary, stating that the repairs needed to be extended. They said that Mr. Rennie had reported that it appears, from an examination of that part of the Old Wharf Wall which lies between the landing stairs and Eastern end of the Victualling yard, and which, including the return, is Three hundred feet [92.3 metres] in length and that the whole bottom is silt [which] having sunk away from the planking on which the Wall stands, its weight may therefore be said to be supported by the Piles only, That these piles are all driven perpendicularly, and are kept in that position by the great body of Mud, and Silt, which lies in front of them, so that if this mud was to be removed the piles would fall forward, unless the land ties by which the Wall is sustained were sufficiently strong to prevent them; that these land ties are ... very much decayed, and consequently no great dependence can be had on them; that therefore, if this Wall is to be preserved, it must undergo a considerable repair, which with the Tender Piles in front [of] the decayed brickwork will cost at least £2,000 and when done, the great Mud bank in front of it will prevent the full advantage being taken of the deep water along the new Wall, as it will check the current of the Tide and occasion a settlement of mud in front of the new Wharf, the foundation of which lies Seven feet deeper than the Old Wall; that the expense of a Wall of 300 feet in length, with the materials of the Coffer dam now in use, will be about £16,000; whereas if this Wall were to stand over to a future period, it would cost about £25,000, ... that it would not be advisable to leave it in its present state... and that [Mr. Rennie] cannot therefore help advising us that the new Wall be extended to the Eastern extremity of the Yards.'

This letter is endorsed as approving the work as detailed. The final letter in the sequence, in May 1821, reports that the work had been completed 'in a manner which we conceive [is] highly creditable to the professional skill and ability of Mr. Rennie... assisted by the unremitting attention and indefatigability of Mr. Hobbs, our inspector of Works...' and goes on to recommend what appears to be a bonus for Hobbs ('such remuneration for his services as [their lordships] may appear to meet').

No record of the final cost of this work has been found. It should come as no surprise to those familiar with the workings of the Admiralty and its subordinate boards that this saga should have gone on for so long, but it is if not surprising, intriguing, that there is no record of the Navy Board having responded to most the Victualling Board's pleas for help in this matter. Perhaps, in due course, the Navy Board Letters Project will turn up the other side of this story.

The October meeting of GIHS featured a very popular talk by Janet Macdonald on the diet provided to the 18th century Navy with particular reference to the Deptford Victualling Yard.

MERRYWEATHERS

By Neil Bennet

The May meeting of GIHS featured Neil Bennet on the Greenwich High Road-based fire engine manufacturer. Here is a report on his talk:

Neil Bennett has been interested in the Merryweather Company since his childhood ownership of toy and model Merryweather fire engines. At University he explored ancient bound journals of ENGINEERING journal and found that the company goes back to the year 1692 and has a diverse and rich engineering heritage. He was looking for work in 1983 and finding that Merryweather had moved to South Wales, he got a position as Draughtsperson with the company - which he kept until the 'moonlight flit' of the company on Friday, 13th April 1984.

The company had started about 25 years after the Fire of London, on the corner of Bow Street and Long Acre. In 1738 a Nathaniel Hadley joined, followed by Simpkin who was a master plumber. Henry Lott joined in 1791. Fire squirts, like large hypodermic needles were made, along with leather buckets and more ambitious pumps. Henry Lott and Braidwood of the London Fire Engine Establishment did not see eye to eye, perhaps having backgrounds from different ends of the social spectrum. Lott was the son of a rich landowner, Braidwood was a 'man of the people'. Moses Merryweather was taken on as an apprentice in 1807 and in 1836 he married Lott's daughter. They had three sons, Richard Merryweather, James Compton Merryweather and Henry Merryweather. Edward Field was a consulting engineer who designed the boiler used in most Merryweather pumps and tram engines.

The Merryweather Sutherland large steam-powered horse-drawn fire engine won first prize at an international fire engine competition at Crystal Palace in 1836. It can be seen at the London Science Museum. James Compton Merryweather was head of the firm from 1871. In 1873 the Long Acre factory was burnt down, to be replaced. The company manufactured such a range of products that it might not even be appropriate to call them a fire equipment company. Products included all kinds of water supply equipment, ice boats, safety rafts, tanks for camel transport, dye extractors, steam dredging apparatus, compressors, an electric clock and a petrol-cycle. The petrol cycle was described by Neil as the first British car and arguably the world's first car. It was designed by Edward Butler and initially built in the Greenwich High Road factory. Neil requested help in regard to 'tanks for camel transport' - were these something the camel carried on its back, or did you put the camel inside it? A letter to London Zoo had produced no enlightenment.

The steam tram engines, like the petrol cycle, were hampered by the Locomotive Acts. The trams were quite sophisticated, requiring to condense their own smoke and steam and being forbidden to produce noise or visibly moving parts or to exceed a strict speed limit.

The company took Limited Liability status from 1892 (Merryweather & Sons LIMITED). Mr. C J W Jakeman was a director, and his name appears along with 'Merryweather' cast into some of the company's boilers. He was the manager of the Greenwich factory when it opened in 1876. A factory in York Street, Lambeth had opened in 1862. Charles Dickens refers to the fire engine makers in Long Acre in his book The Uncommercial Traveller.

Mr. Bennett recalled a storeman named Mitchell, described in a book by James Merryweather. Mitchell would give out cash to local residents when the factory's testing of water jets and smoky machinery had spoilt the ladies' washing as the washing was hung out to dry. This was quite evocative and paints a clear picture of the times, which in some ways haven't changed much.

Neil described the fitting of 100-foot ladders to DUKW vehicles for scaling the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc in the D-Day landings. He also recalled some of the later events when the company, under its parent company Siebe Gorman, disappeared overnight from Ebbw Vale to Plymouth. The name Stuart Le Gassic comes up in reference to the Company's recent history, but today it is run for the import of hand fire extinguishers by Jeff Wright at Tuesnoad Grange, Bethersden, Kent. I think Mr. Wright would be interested to learn of new aspects of the company's past, or to buy old Merryweather catalogues, but he probably cannot help much with historical research or with spare parts for old machinery!

Neil made some useful contacts and will be working on his book Sustained by Extinction on the history of Merryweather.
Sadly, the Merryweather factory in Greenwich High Road has now been demolished. However it remains the subject about which we receive the most correspondence.

Neal has since written that his most recent Merryweather & Sons interest is in the Electric Clock claimed to have been built by, or associated with the company, before 1901. Another Blog (NAWCC_Message_Board@nawcc-mb.com) suggested this could be one of a network of 'master' and 'slave' electric clocks made by Charles Shepherd of 53 Leadenhall Street for the Royal Greenwich Observatory and elsewhere, or could even be the Gate Clock fixed outside the gate of the nearby Royal Observatory in 1852, in which case it is a very important clock indeed. In today's world a company manufacturing an electric clock does not exactly raise an eyebrow, but it was changing the world then!

He would be grateful to anyone who can confirm a link between Merryweather and Shepherd, the Greenwich Observatory or the then Astronomer Royal, George Airy, or indeed what the Merryweather electric clock really was.

Neil is also making progress finding out about such obscure Merryweather products as the Dulier smoke absorption system and John Gordon's electric tram system, but 'Tanks for camel transport' still draws a blank!

Anyone interested in the firm's history can find some excellent information on a Greenwich-made steam fire engine exported to Australia, and on the company, at; http://tinyurl.com/9w6g63

Neil says ....Industrial history is the new rock 'n' roll...(?)

Neil’s contribution has sparked a reply from Richard Wiltshire, Senior Archivist for Business Archives at the London Metropolitan Archives:

“You may be interested to know that I am currently producing a catalogue list for 2 volumes of the above company which were gifted to us in 2006. Please find our accession description below:

Accession: B06/061
Records of MERRYWEATHER AND SONS [FIRE ENGINE AND FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS]:
Day Account book giving detailed information on supplies to clients in London (1830 - 1835) with draft letters (1842 - 1844). Photograph album of fire equipment annotated with the client they were supplied to (1920 – 1921). [2 volumes]

These volumes were saved from a skip at a factory store, Aber (Ebbw? Web Ed.) Vale, Wales owned by Siebe Gorman, the firm which absorbed Merryweather. They are available by prior appointment until the listing is completed."

Other contributors on Merryweather:

Martin M: A great-uncle of mine, Gerard Lee Tuppen, is understood to have had the task of delivering Merryweather equipment to the Rangoon Municipal Fire Brigade - but I have no further information, although I have a photograph of the handing-over, in Rangoon, of a mixed consignment of vehicles to that City in 1925, in which he appears, and which has his signature on the reverse, together with that of the City Health Officer. I also have a newspaper cutting, undated and unexplained, recording the funeral of one Edward Field, for many years a foreman painter with the Company. It includes the names of 11 principal foremen. Some direct contact to discuss this might be interesting?

Julie said... I used to work for Siebe which owned Merryweather in later years. I have a booklet of the history of the company which may interest you.

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

The list of meetings and events takes a considerable amount of time to compile. Unfortunately there has not been the time this issue! Apologies!

EXHIBITIONS

FIREPOWER

For further information please contact Firepower on 020 8855 7755, info@firepower.org.uk, website www.firepower.org.uk

Sponsor a tile at Crossness

One of the Crossness Engine Trust's objectives is to return the Beam Engine House to its original 1865 condition. To this end, they have been actively looking at the possibility of replacing an area of missing floor tiles in front of the north facing windows on the Beam floor. They feel that this colourful display of Victorian tiling would add to visitors’ enjoyment of the Engine House. It is laid with tiles of varying shape and colour (red, black and harvest blue) to form a geometric pattern. They have located a company at Burslam, Stoke on Trent, which still makes an exact match of the original tiles, in both size and colour.

The Trust is seeking help from those who would like to contribute to this restoration project. This will take the form of sponsorship and you can sponsor as few or as many tiles as you wish, up to a maximum of the 900 required, at a cost of £1 per tile.

If you are interested, please make your cheque payable to:

Crossness Engines Trust, The Old Works, Thames Water S.T.W. , Belevedere Road, Abbey Wood, SE2 9AQ

Jack Vaughan - first Chair of Greenwich Industrial History Society - died on Monday 14th July 2008 at the age of 91.
He had three sons and two daughters by Florence his first wife; she died in 1973. He married again but was again left bereft when Jean died.

This obituary is about his life in the world of Greenwich's local history - but he had many, many other interests. At his funeral we heard about his record in the Army in the Second World War, how he fought at El Alamein and met Field Marshall Montgomery. We also heard about his lifetime’s enthusiasm for Charlton Football Club.

At a first meeting he could seem rather gruff, but one soon found how kind a man he was – there was no one who did not like Jack, even if they did not fully share his views.
He had been an apprentice at the Arsenal (writing about his experiences in Woolwich Antiquarian Proceedings Vol. XLII) then worked there until he retired - again we heard at his funeral how he was respected for his engineering ability and knowledge and how he later went on to teach his skills at Woolwich Polytechnic School.
From this arose a love of clocks and his ability to repair them. The future of the clock on Building 10 at the Arsenal particularly worried him – Berkeley Homes say they will restore it. He always championed the Arsenal, giving talks on its history. He was also well versed in the Woolwich Dockyard, and a connoisseur of local pubs…

Many societies benefited from his energy: on Shooters Hill, where he lived for 54 years, he was Chairman of the Shooters Hill Society; he wrote articles for the Shooters Hill Local History Group, published in its series of ‘Aspects’. He was the inaugural chairman of the Greenwich Industrial History Society eventually becoming Honorary President. He was also involved in the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, history group. But his longest association was with the Woolwich and District Antiquarian Society; for many years on its council, latterly as a Vice President; he was chairman of the Conservation Sub-Committee.

Jack was a fierce defender of Woolwich’s heritage in his dealings with the Borough’s Planners, particularly in respect of his beloved Arsenal. He was a frequent attendee at Planning Committees and made sure they heard his views. However, they listened to him with more respect than he would ever acknowledge and changes were often made. One locally famous exploit was his saving the tomb of the world famous engineer, Henry Maudslay, when the Council cleared St Mary’s Churchyard – all but one of its cast iron plates were retrieved, and taken to the Maritime Museum store in the Brass Foundry - they are now in the care of the Greenwich Heritage Centre. Jack was well known and respected by the London-wide community of industrial archaeologists, particularly in the Greater London Industrial Archaeological Society. In 2001 a special seminar on Maudslay was held at Kew Bridge Engines Trust - special mention was made of Jack’s role in rescuing the plaque and a small ceremony was held.

Eventually he became frail and although he went into a well-run nursing home, he was only his old self with visitors who shared his interests. Six weeks before he died he had a fall, requiring two operations.

His funeral was at Eltham Crematorium, Falconwood at on Wednesday 23rd July at 2.45pm. This was followed by a do at the Red Lion Pub on Shooters Hill - one of his favourite locals.
Donations in his memory may be made to one of two charities: Cancer Research or The Alzheimer's Society. Jack was a one off - to quote a friend - 'Well, Jack - Jack's Jack, isn't he?!’

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