To the high seas! with tales of exploration, piracy and 1970’s ‘practical archeology’.
We’re on Bankside, at St Mary Overy Dock. ‘St Mary Overy’ was the pre-reformation name for what became St Saviour’s church and what is now Southwark Cathedral. (The word ‘Overy’ referred to the fact that it was ‘over the river’, i.e. on the opposite bank to the City.)
In this now dry dock is a replica (currently being restored) of Sir Francis Drake’s ‘Golden Hinde’, the ship on which that famous sailor circumnavigated the globe between 1577-1580.
The expedition brought back spices from the Indies as well as a considerable amount of treasure seized from the Spanish. In fact, so profitable was the venture that its backers saw a 4700% return on their investment. Elizabeth I’s support for what was officially called a ‘voyage of discovery’ meant that the royal coffers were enhanced by £160,000 (enough to pay off the entire government debt with £40,000 left over). The monetary success of the enterprise (plus the aggravation caused to the Spanish) led to Drake being knighted on the deck of the Golden Hinde in Deptford in 1581.
Originally called ‘The Pelican’, Drake renamed his ship midway through the voyage in honour of his patron Sir Christopher Hatton (after whom Hatton Garden is named) whose heraldic crest was a golden hind.
This reconstruction was launched in 1973. As with the nearby Globe Theatre, there were no detailed drawings of the original’s construction, so the new version was based on an examination of period manuscripts.
Traditional materials were used throughout, with English oak, elm and pice being sourced (as it is with the present restoration). Getting wood for the masts proved the most difficult challenge as they required a straight trunk of which the first 60′ (18 metres) had to have no branches or blemishes. These were eventually found on an estate in Devon.
Launched in April 1973 the ship sailed across the Atlantic to San Francisco in 1974/5 as part of the planned 400th anniversary celebrations of Drake’s (supposed) original landing in California in July 1579. The 13,000 mile voyage saw the new Golden Hinde with a crew of 15-20, less than a quarter of the size of Drake’s original crew.
In 1979 the ship sailed to Japan (to appear in the TV movie ‘Shogun’) and then back to the UK from where, in 1985, it again went across the Atlantic, thence through the Panama Canal and up to Vancouver, before ‘touring’ the US and returning, eastwards this time, to the UK in 1991, and to St Mary Overy Dock in 1996.
