A history of the Oxford college barges

In sharing the following information, we are deeply endebted to the work of Clare Sherriff, who has laid out the history of these unique craft in painstaking detail in her book, 'The Oxford College Barges - Their History & Architecture' (2003) 

PRE-HISTORY - THE CITY OF LONDON LIVERY BARGES

The college barges had their origin in the London livery barges.

Travelling by water has, since early times, been a principal method of transport in and around the city of London, especially for royal or state processions, from Greenwich to Whitehall and Hampton court. 

Housing up to 18 rowers, the City of London Livery Barges were 15th Century ceremonial vessels whose design had metamorphosed through a long tradition, via the Venetian state barges, dating back from the craft of Roman and Viking times. Though with flat hulls, the design of their seafaring forebears was evident, with 'strong design links to past nautical traditions. all the way from Noah's Ark through Cleopatra to Nelson's Navy'. (taken from the pamphlet c. 2000 raising awareness of the renovation of the St John's Barge in 1988).

'They visited the principal castles, palaces and sites of Church and State from the Tower of London up to Windsor and down to Rochester, including law courts, prisons, places of execution, Parliament, Lambeth Palace, Runnymede and Somerset House.' 

'The Livery Companies were early trading societies based on the Northern trading guilds of Antwerp.' Every year until 1856 the barges gathered on the Thames in London for the Lord Mayor's Procession. Each livery company had a symbol, emblazoned on arms, signifying their origins to the outside world. 

'The Skinners Barge of 1656 shows a multi-pillared, two tiered temple-type edifice, followed by the stern section which housed "the mynstrelsie" with seats for musicians with "drummes, flutes and trumpets blohyng". The barge master steered from this lofty and seemingly noisy vantage point...resplendent in their livery uniform.'

London State barges c1850 - with some artistic licence (engraving after a painting by Roberts)

HISTORY COMES TO OXFORD

With the shift in emphasis towards physical exercise in Victorian times, from the more leisurely activities of Georgian England, and the first Henley Regatta in 1839, The Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) was formed in 1839 as rowing saw a surge in popularity. Its inventive backers initiated the purchase of six of the remaining London Livery Barges to serve as changing rooms and viewing platforms for the rowers and their supporters. They were brought back by horses along the Thames towpath to Oxford. 6 more set off to Cambridge by sea but sank on the way.

In 1846 the OUBC bought the Merchant Taylors Company Barge, which was later passed on to Univ, the Goldsmith's Barge 'with its distinctive angels' came to Oriel College, and the Lord Mayor's Barge went to Queens. The original angels still decorate the purpose built Orial boathouse today.' 

GLOSSARY OF ROWING TERMS 

(our thanks go to Sarah Hosking whose 1969 manuscript, 'The Oxford College Barges, The Growth & Decay of a Tradition' has informed the below, and provided much of the interesting detail to be found in this website). 

Eights' Week Usually the last week in May when the Oxford races take place. 

Eights This can refer to the men or the boat of a racing eight. A college may have one, two, three or four eights, referred to as the first, second, third or fourth eight. 

The Boat A college 'boat' is the college's first eight. 

Head of the River The winning crew during Eights' Week

A Bump During the race the aim is to overlap the stern of the boat in front or actually to hit it. This entitles the bumping boat to move up one place on the river. 

A TRADITION OF ENERGETIC FUNDRAISING

Repairs have always been expensive. Many of the London barges had been built c.1800 and were in need of repair. 'By 1858 any student who used the barge or was a member of the Boat Club was obliged to pay an annual subscription. By this means the colleges raised funds to support their barges.' Probably college governing bodies, influenced by the success of the crew on the river, were also generous in their contributions to repairs. 

'£400 was spent on barge repairs and repainting in 1868 alone.' An accounting entry describes, ' the somewhat gargantuan feat of getting the boat out of water with screw jacks and the subsequent fresh varnishing with rossin and tallow the boat's bottom.. in those days, the boat [builders] men were even provided with beer for "men at work", at a cost of 8s 9d.'

For Henley Regatta, colleges who owned their own barges would set up special 'Henley Funds' in order to 'tow them down river to the regatta, equip them with flowers, lobster, strawberries and cream and entertain their guests most royally.' There were printed admission tickets to 'the top of the barge [...] the upper decks providing an excellent viewing platform.'

'VARSITY barge

The first of the commission-built Oxford College Barges was known as the 'Varsity varge, built at Pangbourne in 1854 for the OUBC. 'The architect was Mr E.G. Bruton. Its clubroom measureed 40ft by 15ft and since it was used in winter as well as in summer "it was heated by an open fireplace which has a moulded and carved chimney piece in character with the design, and also a tubular boiler at the backk where steam was generated for heating the distant parts of the barge" (SH). 

A receipt for interiors includes '4 mirrors with solid oak frames, velvet seating, rich carpet, blue tasselled blinds, 3 marble washstands (and a dozen blocks of almond soap), oak magazine racks, 12 windsor chairs and a good-sized table to sit around, evoking the interior of a gentleman's club rather more than a rowing clubhouse.'

Reminiscent of the original Livery Barges, the exterior design retained features such as the length - between 60 to 90 foot, a large 'house' structure placed on top of a flat hull with shallow draft, an upper deck viewing platform, grand doorcases and entrances often supported by columns, and the great stern rise, with its 'grand sweep' to accommodate minstrel and bargemaster. The OUBC barge 'was a highly ornamented, gothicised affair with pointed, decorated windows and spidery, pierced railings, and even a chimney that was fluted and decorated' (S Hosking).  The livery companies' love of pageantry would probably have appealed to the 19th century Oxonians, and the colleges naturally followed the tradition of displaying their own symbols and coats of arms on their barges, carrying 'the college identity away from the solidity of stone or brick to something more theatrical.' CS

Another accounts ledger entry describes 'benches and a full-length canopy being provided for the comfort of the viewers'. The new barges had a stove to heat water for washing. Oars were stored in racks on the ceiling in the main saloon. Side doors allowed rowers to step out onto a pontoon which was often moored alongside the barge, in order to launch. The first Corpus Christi barge had a bench seat along both walls of the main saloon.

WINDOW barge

'It was built in about 1850 and was shared by four colleges at a time. it had no door and the only entrances were through four windows, one for each changing room. It was eventually taken over by Merton College and so presumably lasted until 1900.' (SH)

THE NEW COLLEGE BARGES

Architects were inspired by naval architecture. The designs were mostly Classical, but some followed the other stylistic giant - Gothic. The new barges were designed to impress. They showcased variations of Edwardian Baroque, Arts & Crafts, and Art Nouveau styles. Many were built by Salter Bros. in Oxford.

Four of the barges had figureheads. Queen's had an eagle, Trinity had a griffin, Jesus had a dragon, and Corpus Christi had a pelican.  While the Jesus, Queen's and Corpus barge figureheads are straightforward pieces of heraldic carving the Trinity griffin is unashamedly a piece of fairground bugaboo. 'Nearly all the barges had striped awnings erected for Eights'Week and were decorated with potted plants... Lunches and teas were served on the barges and every comfort supplied for the visitors.' (SH) 

'The use of architectural decoration...pillars, porticoes, arabesque and foliate devices, cornices, architraves and various forms of inventive fenestration were common detailing. Gilded lions, fish, lambs, seahorses, shells, angels, mermaids, wyverns and dragons...' 

These were iconic references to identify ownership, 'a recognised language used to codify quality, prestige, and meaning.' 

As mentioned above, our thanks go to Clare Sherriff for her dry wit and for providing so many precious details. On listing Oriel College boat club accounts from 1859 she notes 'other entries include one for coals and three for brandy, a secondary warming agent seemingly necessary for the nineteeth century rower.' 

With the exception of Oriel college barge which was clinker built, 'the rest of the Oxford barges owed nothing in their hull construction to their London predecessors. They were flat bottomed and drew only a foot or so of water. If they did have a prow it was a purely ornamental, non-functional point to a static, solid hull. They did not owe a great deal either to the London series in the design of their superstructure. Oriel's 1892 barge and Corpus Christi's 1930 barge are the only ones that bear any obvious resemblance to them. But what they do owe is the all important sense of pageantry and gaety.... they set the mood ... they illustrated how splendid ornate barges with tall, white flagpoles and coloured banners could look in the Christ Church setting, and that was the only lesson that needed to be taught.' (SH)

CHRIST CHURCH MEADOW

In 1930 there were up to 26 barges moored along the Isis at Christ Church Meadow, which acted as floating changing rooms, viewing platforms and club houses.

However, In the 1960s/70s the College Barges fell into disrepair and became abandoned and neglected as new boathouses were built on Christ Church meadow. The colleges no longer prioritised the upkeep of the barges. 

'By the 1930s they were felt to be no longer adequate for the needs of the rowing men for whereas there had been only one rowing eight presented by a college there came to be two, three or even four eights attached to each college and the barges simply could not accommodate them all. The generation between the wars was anxious also to secure better conditions and more comfortable amenties so a desire for a comfortable boathouse where there was hot water and storage space for the boats gradually became the main objective. The barges were admittedly inadequate in many respects as college river quarters. Oars could be stored in them but the racing eights had to be kept elsewhere, usually down at Folly Bridge, which necessitated a walk to reach them besides paying rent to keep them there.' (SH) 

The Christ Church boathouse 'was completed in 1936 and by 1939 two others belonging to Magdalen and Trinity, and Merton and Worcester respectively, had all been built on the far end of the island. These five colleges had all disposed of their barges by 1939.

No-one can blame the undergraduates for wanting those material comforts to be readily available to them after their rowing exertions but at this point they failed to realise what it was they had been assembling on the river for the last three quarters of a century...Once it had been decided that they were uncomfortable, all their charm, fantasy and intricacy could not suggest that perhaps they were worth preserving' (SH)  'Architecture, it is widely believed in Oxford, is a pursuit inseparable from stone.' (Miss Anne Petrides 'State Barges on the Thames' 1959)

This is when the Oxford College Barges Preservation Trust stepped in.

To find out more, go to The Oxford College Barges and About Us pages.