CONTEXT 187 : MARCH 2026 35 INFRASTRUCTURE A boathouse on the slipway in 1930 WESSEX the establishment of Buckler’s Hard, named after the Buckle family in the parish register of 1668. With the formation of the navy under Henry VIII and its expansion due to threats from Spain and France, the New Forest trees were utilised and local shipwrightry expertise grew. During the 1690s, Richard Herring, a shipwright from Bursledon, was commissioned to build HMS Salisbury at Bailey’s Hard, also on the Beaulieu river. He died in 1697 and his brother took over to complete the ship, but had inadequate funds. The Beaulieu Estate owner, Ralph, Duke of Montagu, took over the ship in lieu of debts. He worked with Herring to complete the contract and the ship was launched in 1698. This was the first documented involvement of the Montagu family with shipbuilding for the navy. From around 1722, John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, wanted to establish Montagu Town at the site of Buckler’s Hard as a free port and for the import of sugar to England from the Caribbean. Twenty acres of woodland were cleared and an 80-foot-wide street was built down to a quay at the edge of the river. However, his plantations were in a part of the Caribbean claimed by France and Montagu was forced to leave. He repurposed his project as a shipbuilding village, reverting to its old name of Buckler’s Hard. By 1724 a quay and dock had been built, which were repaired in 1743 with oak planks and piles. James Wyatt, a local timber merchant, was commissioned in 1744 to build the Surprise, a 24-gun ship, which was overseen by Henry Adams, a timber merchant and shipwright from Deptford. The ship was launched in 1745, evidencing the presence of a slipway. As the shipyard changed hands to Henry Adams by 1748, the slipways were rebuilt as the original groundways (oak baulks) had been sold to repay debts. The yard was extended from 1771, following a survey by the navy which requested four slipways, including one 165 feet long and angled at the bend of the river to allow turning room for 64-gun ships. Adams noted that he ‘buried several hundred pounds worth of Timber for Groundways, to support the Ships while building’. From 1744 to 1815 a total of 55 ships were built for the Royal Navy, including three ships that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar of 1805 under the leadership of the then Vice-Admiral Nelson: Agamemnon, Euryalus and Swiftsure. Agamemnon, a Third Rate ship holding 64 guns, was famed to be Nelson’s favourite ship, which he captained from 1793–96. Evidence of the slipways had been found, initiating the 1990s archaeological investigations. A comprehensive topographical and geophysical The 1771 shipyard survey by Sir John Henslow, showing original slipways and proposed new ones
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