Maritime record MWX2772 - Poole Harbour Logboat

A log boat was dredged from Poole Harbour, east of Brownsea Island in 1964. Two large fragments of the boat were discovered, and it was reconstructed to provide a vessel of just over 10 metres in length and 1.52 metres in width. The wood has been radiocarbon dated to circa 300 cal BC, giving it a firm Iron Age date. It is believed that the boat is associated with two nearby Iron Age jetties, nationally significant and thought to relate to cross-continental trading which took place on Green Island in Poole Harbour.The boat was submerged in a tank for approximately 30 years after its discovery. When Poole Museum was moved to a new site a programme of conservation was entered into regarding the boat. British Sugar Company provided a sucrose solution, something which had proved effective in the past at stabilising oak samples. The conservation programme is now successfully completed and the logboat is on permanent display in Poole Museum.

In 1964, two large fragments of an Oak logboat were recovered from Poole Harbour by a dredger and divers. <1>

A full interpretation and description of the logboat is given by McGrail <2> who attributes a Middle Iron Age date to the wood.

SZ 033878. A Mid-Iron Age monoxylous log boat was dredged from Poole Harbour, just east of Brownsea Island, in 1964. Two large fragments making up a large proportion of the original boat were discovered; the full length of the now preserved and reconstructed boat being 10.01m overall and 1.52m maximum width. Radiocarbon dating gave a result of 2245 +/-50 BP (Q-821), which calibrates to the 4th or 3rd century BC. Now on display in Old Town House, Poole.<1-3>

The boat was kept immersed in a tank for approximately thirty years while a replica was shown in the museum. When a new museum was built for Poole attentions turned to creating a long-term solution so that the boat could be displayed. Sponsors were gathered to provide the tank and a chemical to minimise the risk from microorganisms and the British Sugar Company provided a sucrose solution. It had previously been suggested that sucrose afforded an excellent preservation solution for oak samples. <5>

10 M Log Boat, site found may have been former shoreline. <6>

The conservation programme is now successfully completed and the logboat is on permanent display in Poole Museum. <7>

<1> Peers, R N R, 1965, Dugout Canoe from Poole Harbour, Dorset; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 131-141 (Article in serial). SWX734.

<2> McGrail, S, 1978, Logboats of England and Wales, 99-101, 254-257 (Monograph). SWX8159.

<3> McGrail, S, 1979, Prehistoric Boats, Timber, and Woodworking Technology. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 159-163 (Article in serial). SDO20561.

<4> Papworth, M D J, Trust for Wessex Archaeology, 1983, Isle of Purbeck Survey, IOP 407 (Index). SDO147.

<5> Hutchings, Jeremy, 1997, The conservation of the Poole log-boat: sucrose treatment on a large scale (Monograph). SDO20560.

<6> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 161 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<7> Gardiner, K, Oral: Katie Gardiner (curator), Poole Museum, 25-AUG-2010 (Verbal communication). SDO20562.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 457515 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2024 7:25PM