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Dapdune Wharf
Dapdune Wharf is a former industrial wharf and boat yard on the Wey and Godalming Navigations in Guildford, England, UK, close to the Surrey County Cricket Club ground. It is now maintained by the National Trust.
Originally a goods transshipment point, before the construction of the Godalming Navigation the principal cargos were timber from the Surrey forests and gunpowder from the works at Chilworth, as the Guildford authorities refused to let it pass through the town centre for loading at the town wharf. For a period of time at the beginning of the 20th Century, Dapdune Wharf was the centre of barge building on the Wey Navigation.
Dapdune is now the starting point for boat trips, including boat hire. The Visitor Centre has interactive displays, a smithy, a stable, and two of the three remaining Wey barges in the world - the Reliance, permanently damaged and kept in a graving (dry) dock, and Perseverance IV, still floating but in need of repair and the subject of a 2010 National Trust restoration appeal.
Dapdune Wharf is now the head office of the Navigation. As part of the continued preservation of British history the National Trust has a group of volunteers, the Wey Navigation Research Group, researching and publishing information about the Godalming and Wey Navigation.
Dapdune Wharf comprises a complex of a dozen buildings. Most are concerned with the construction and maintenance of the barges and stores for the various materials needed. They include a smithy, a barge repair shed at the end of a short cut from the bend in the river, a carpenters shed, formerly the sail loft, and the barge building shed at the north end of the site. There was also a graving dock with associated capstans for barges needing repairs below the water line. There were separate stores for gunpowder, part of the oldest building on the site, and for carbide, which was delivered from London for fuel for lamps. Two specialist buildings were the steam chest for bending wood to shape for boat ribs, and the tar chest for caulking. A cottage on the wharf, renovated in 1894 for the Edwards family, is a Grade II listed building. The other cottage, Dapdune Lea, was built at the same time for William Stevens III's sister, Mary Jane Stevens. Later their brother, John, added a first floor balcony in order to be able to watch the cricket in comfort. Dapdune Lea is now the National Trust's administrative offices for the navigations.
The Wey Navigation opened in 1653. Traffic on the Navigation grew very quickly. In its first year the owners took £800 in tolls on goods carried. This quickly grew to £15,000 per annum. One reason for this growth was the many mills that were built along the Wey plus the slow alternative means of transport. One of the largest remaining mills was built at Coxes Lock, near Addlestone.
In the early days the Navigation was owned by the local landowners and business people. It was Sir Richard Weston of Sutton Place, Guildford who first had the idea of making the Wey navigable. By 1723 the Navigation was in the hands of the Langton family and the Earl of Portmore from Weybridge.
Two families dominated the river and barge building on the Wey, the Stevens and the Edwards.
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Dapdune Wharf AI simulator
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Dapdune Wharf
Dapdune Wharf is a former industrial wharf and boat yard on the Wey and Godalming Navigations in Guildford, England, UK, close to the Surrey County Cricket Club ground. It is now maintained by the National Trust.
Originally a goods transshipment point, before the construction of the Godalming Navigation the principal cargos were timber from the Surrey forests and gunpowder from the works at Chilworth, as the Guildford authorities refused to let it pass through the town centre for loading at the town wharf. For a period of time at the beginning of the 20th Century, Dapdune Wharf was the centre of barge building on the Wey Navigation.
Dapdune is now the starting point for boat trips, including boat hire. The Visitor Centre has interactive displays, a smithy, a stable, and two of the three remaining Wey barges in the world - the Reliance, permanently damaged and kept in a graving (dry) dock, and Perseverance IV, still floating but in need of repair and the subject of a 2010 National Trust restoration appeal.
Dapdune Wharf is now the head office of the Navigation. As part of the continued preservation of British history the National Trust has a group of volunteers, the Wey Navigation Research Group, researching and publishing information about the Godalming and Wey Navigation.
Dapdune Wharf comprises a complex of a dozen buildings. Most are concerned with the construction and maintenance of the barges and stores for the various materials needed. They include a smithy, a barge repair shed at the end of a short cut from the bend in the river, a carpenters shed, formerly the sail loft, and the barge building shed at the north end of the site. There was also a graving dock with associated capstans for barges needing repairs below the water line. There were separate stores for gunpowder, part of the oldest building on the site, and for carbide, which was delivered from London for fuel for lamps. Two specialist buildings were the steam chest for bending wood to shape for boat ribs, and the tar chest for caulking. A cottage on the wharf, renovated in 1894 for the Edwards family, is a Grade II listed building. The other cottage, Dapdune Lea, was built at the same time for William Stevens III's sister, Mary Jane Stevens. Later their brother, John, added a first floor balcony in order to be able to watch the cricket in comfort. Dapdune Lea is now the National Trust's administrative offices for the navigations.
The Wey Navigation opened in 1653. Traffic on the Navigation grew very quickly. In its first year the owners took £800 in tolls on goods carried. This quickly grew to £15,000 per annum. One reason for this growth was the many mills that were built along the Wey plus the slow alternative means of transport. One of the largest remaining mills was built at Coxes Lock, near Addlestone.
In the early days the Navigation was owned by the local landowners and business people. It was Sir Richard Weston of Sutton Place, Guildford who first had the idea of making the Wey navigable. By 1723 the Navigation was in the hands of the Langton family and the Earl of Portmore from Weybridge.
Two families dominated the river and barge building on the Wey, the Stevens and the Edwards.
