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Purton Hulks


The Purton Hulks or Purton Ships' Graveyard are a number of abandoned boats and ships, deliberately beached beside the River Severn near Purton in Gloucestershire, England, to reinforce the river banks. Most were beached in the 1950s and are now in a state of considerable decay. The site forms the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain.

A riverbank collapse in 1909 led to concerns that the barrier between the river and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal would be breached. Old vessels were run aground and soon filled with water and silt to create a tidal erosion barrier. The vessels included steel barges, Severn trows and concrete ships. The boats came from throughout the British Isles and were built in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th.

Since 2000, archaeological investigations have been undertaken to find out more about the vessels and their states of decay. Explanatory labels have been provided. One barge has been scheduled as an ancient monument and several are included in the National Register of Historic Vessels.

Purton lies on the southern bank of the River Severn less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of the port of Sharpness. The Severn is the longest river in the United Kingdom, at about 220 miles (354 km), and with an average discharge of 107 m³/s at Apperley, Gloucestershire, it is the greatest river in terms of water flow in England and Wales.

At the site of the Purton Hulks there is less than 50 metres (160 ft) of land between the river and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (or Gloucester and Berkeley Canal). The 26.5-kilometre-long (16.5 mi) canal was dug between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a significant loop in the river, at a once-dangerous bend near Arlingham. It was once the broadest and deepest canal in the world. Conceived in the Canal Mania period of the late 18th century, the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal scheme was authorised by a 1793 an Act of Parliament. The canal opened in April 1827, having cost £440,000 in the course of its construction. The flood plain of the Severn hereabouts is very flat and so the elevation of the canal does not require any rise over its length. Outside the dock areas at each end, there are no locks. This encouraged use of the canal for larger ships than most other British canals, although there were also a number of swing bridges to negotiate. As opened the canal was 86.5 feet (26.4 m) wide, 18 feet (5.5 m) deep and could take craft of up to 600 tons. In 1905 traffic exceeded 1 million tons for the first time. Oil was added to the list of cargoes carried by the canal, with bulk oil carriers taking fuel to storage tanks sited to the south of Gloucester.


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