Stour Lighters

Stour Lighters operated on the River Stour from 1705 until the early part of this century carrying a variety of cargoes up and down the river. One of the most important was the carriage of bricks from various brickyards at Sudbury down to the estuary for onward movement to London and elsewhere. Coal was a common return cargo. Uniquely, the lighters operated in pairs, being permanently shackled bow to stern, rather in the style of an articulated lorry, the rear lighter being used as a rudder for the pair. The stern vessel had a single hold with a small cabin at the rear. Each boat was able to carry a load of 13 tons, making a total of 26 tons for the pair. They were towed by a single horse, which was trained to leap on and off the foredeck whenever the towpath changed from one bank to the other.

The crew consisted of a captain and a horseman. The latter was often a small boy, who sometimes rode the horse. The journey from Sudbury to the estuary normally took about 2 days, with an overnight stop halfway at Horkesley - where a special "bothy" - or bunkhouse - was provided for the lightermen The lighters continued to penetrate upstream to Sudbury until the 1914 - 18 War, when fearing a German invasion, the entire Sudbury fleet of some 14 boats were scuttled in Ballingdon Cut. However two separately owned lighters continued to operate on the lower part of the river until about 1938, when they were abandoned.

A lighter (No 13)is now on permanent display at a specially built wharf next to Cornard Lock. It is thought to be well over 100 years old and was rescued from the Cut in the 1970's by members of the River Stour Trust and was later the subject of a year long job creation scheme, when it was finally restored by a gang of 5 previously unemployed men. When raised the lower part of the hull was found to be in perfect condition and the later restoration consisted of replacing the upper works. It is approximately 10 feet wide and 46 feet long. This boat is a bow vessel and has two holds and a central bridge from where steering took place. Currently, it requires further maintenance work. A long term objective of the Trust is to restore a stern vessel.

Most of the boats were made in a dry dock or Basin at Flatford, although others were built on a boat yard at the top end of the former Gasworks Cut near the Trust's premises. Sadly, its remains were destroyed in September 1997. However, the Basin at Flatford was restored to full working order by the National Trust with assistance from the River Stour Trust in the late 1980's. It is the site of John Constable's famous 18th century landscape painting "Boat Building at Flatford" which shows in photographic detail a lighter under construction. Other Constable paintings of the area depict the Stour busy with laden barges.

Barges in Wormingford Cut from a painting by Olwen Tichmarsh