28 C O N T E X T 1 3 0 : J U LY 2 0 1 3 de heritage seaside tage Our seaside heritag Our seaside heritage Ou easide heritage Our itage Our seaside heritage seaside heritage Our seaside herita re-evaluation. It was gradually appreciated that many of the hulks were in fact rare survivors of working barges known as trows, once commonly found on the River Severn and Bristol Channel. The assemblage of old boats has a special romance, particularly at low tide when the alluvial mud banks of the Severn are fully revealed. As well as archaeological interest, the site has significant environmental value and forms part of the Severn Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest. The saltmarsh on the foreshore provides an ideal habitat for certain invertebrates and wintering birds, and Slimbridge Wildfowl andWetlands Trust is only two miles upriver. The first recorded description of the site was by Graham Farr in 1935. David MacGregor photographed and recorded some of the hulks in the 1950s. However, it was only after the first archaeological survey in 1996–7 by Anthony Parker and students fromBristol University that a wider interest developed in their heritage value. Parker identified 42 vessels, including seven large concrete barges built during the second world war. Much of the current interest is due to the efforts of Paul Barnett, an early enthusiast who undertook extensive research into the origins of the boats, and a campaigning group of local supporters, the Friends of Purton.They undertook more detailed survey work of the site jointly with the Nautical Archaeological Society and Wessex Archaeology, issuing the Purton Hulks Recording Project 2008. It was clear that the assemblage was more extensive than at first thought, and of considerable archaeological interest. By this time over 80 hulked vessels had been identified between Purton and Sharpness. In 2010 Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Services issued the Purton Hulks Aerial Photographic Progression Study as part of an existing project, the Severn Estuary Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey. The aims were to map the Purton hulks visible on aerial photographs using standard National Mapping Programme methodology, and to show the development of the hulks through time from original beaching to subsequent destruction, erosion or burial. The study used RAF aerial photographs from 1945–47 held in the archive at the National Monuments Record Centre and Ordnance Survey photographs up to 2007.The intention was to provide a baseline statement of current knowledge on the archaeological site. The 2010 report recognised that much of its significance lies in the maritime, industrial, family and local history of the vessels and those who operated them. Vigorous campaigning by the Friends of Purton to raise awareness of the site yielded some impressive results.The local MP, David Drew, offered his support and secured aWestminster Hall debate on the future of the Purton hulks in 2009, at which the culture minister agreed to consider whether the hulks assemblage should be scheduled for its national importance. The English Heritage response recommended against scheduling the whole assemblage and in favour of extending an existing conservation area at Sharpness Old Dock, developing a heritage partnership agreement for the site and scheduling nationally important individual vessels. English Heritage looked at the alternatives of designating vessels as historic wrecks or listing them, but decided that neither was appropriate for this site. It identified three vessels that warranted a full assessment for scheduling: the 1894 Kennet barge Harriet, the 1901 Chepstow trow Edith and the 1888 schooner New Dispatch.Their conclusion was that at that stage only Harriet qualified to be scheduled. A guided walk by Friends of Purton
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