Project · Windsor, New South Wales
Hulls of the Hawkesbury
Three timber boats from early colonial Windsor, among the oldest known surviving remains of boats built in Australia.
Windsor Boats timbers in a water tank being filled with water · Image: Irini Malliaros/SWF; Copyright TfNSW
Found
December 2018 – March 2019
Location
Hawkesbury River, Windsor
Vessels
Three: one carvel-built, two clinker-built
Conservation began
December 2020
The discovery
Boats of early colonial Windsor
The largely disarticulated and scattered remains of three different timber boats were found and lifted between December 2018 and March 2019, during work on Transport for NSW’s Windsor Bridge Replacement project.
When boat timbers were dredged up during work to install scour protection on the banks of the river, the maritime archaeological firm Cosmos Archaeology, which had recently undertaken the excavation of the Barangaroo Boat, was engaged to assess the site. Recognising the potential heritage and archaeological significance of the find, over 100 submerged timber pieces were recovered under archaeological supervision.
When this jigsaw puzzle of waterlogged wood was put together, we found that it represented three different craft: one carvel-built vessel, to which most of the timbers seemed to belong, and two more fragmentary collections belonging to craft of clinker construction.
Carvel construction refers to the method where the frame is constructed first and the planks are fastened to it with their long edges abutting with no overlap, like a timber floor. In clinker construction the planks are laid first and slightly overlap each other, and frames are added later, as in a weatherboard wall. Preliminary timber identification reveals an exclusive use of Australian wood species in the construction of the boats.
The boats are assessed as being of local and national significance. The preliminary analysis of their form, fabric and construction points to their being built in the early colonial Australian era, and among the oldest known surviving remains of boats built in Australia.
The Windsor Boats, as they are now known, have the potential to reveal rare information on colonial shipbuilding techniques and how traditional craft skills were adapted to make use of native Australian timber.
Raising the Windsor Boats
Excavating the boats
The boat timbers were excavated and raised by maritime archaeological divers. The position of each timber on the riverbed was recorded before removal, and once lifted, each timber was individually recorded in more detail.
The timbers were then carefully wrapped in geofabric secured with cable ties to protect them during storage near the recovery site. All the timbers were submerged in a large tank of clean water to prevent them drying out and warping or splitting. Black plastic covered the top of the container to reduce UV penetration, and the water was changed regularly.
As work progressed, maritime archaeologists were able to form some preliminary theories about the vessels from each piece of timber they uncovered. It appears that the carvel vessel was quite heavily built and carried a mast. The clinker vessels had too few and disconnected pieces to give an idea of their complete form, but some construction details can be gleaned.
Images: Transport for NSW, used with permission.
A change of scenery
Recording & conserving the timbers
The next phase for the Windsor Boats began with their transport from the storage site at Windsor to the Sydney Metro conservation facility in Sydney’s west, a purpose-built space for the professional documentation and conservation of the Barangaroo Boat’s hull timbers.
After the Windsor Boats were discovered, Silentworld Foundation worked closely with Transport for NSW and Sydney Metro to bring them into the space and develop a plan for the detailed digital recording and conservation of the timbers.
In this phase, Silentworld Foundation once again teamed up with York Archaeological Trust and Ubi3D, with collaborative support from the Australian National Maritime Museum. Work began in December 2020.
The process
How is it done?
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Unwrap and assess
Timbers are unwrapped and their condition briefly assessed. Wrapping is no longer needed in this phase.
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Record in detail
A structured light scanner records each timber at high resolution. The 3D models are annotated in CAD software to point out features such as cut marks, fastening holes, jointing and use wear.
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Remove iron fasteners
Iron and wood need different conservation treatments, so separating them where possible means each gets the treatment best suited to it. Fasteners that can’t be removed are coated to protect them from corrosion.
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Pre-treatment
Recorded timbers are treated to remove excess iron deposited in the wood by the corrosion of the iron nails used in its construction.
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Treatment with PEG wax
Polyethylene glycol is a liquid wax. In a slow process it replaces the water in the cells of waterlogged wood, so that when the wood is dried it keeps its shape and does not split or warp.
In the lab
Inside the conservation facility
Updates and insights
Follow the Windsor Boats
Image rights. Transport for NSW reserves the rights to all project imagery. All images and footage have been used with permission from Transport for NSW.
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