Glasgow, Hutchesontown Bridge

NS56SE 16 c. 597 641.

A dug-out canoe was discovered on the 12th January 1880 in the bed of the River Clyde immediately above the Hutchesontown Bridge. It was found when removing what becomes, at low tides, a small islet, in the river almost immediately opposite Nelson's Monument on Glasgow Green. What remained of the canoe, formed of a single oak tree, measured about 24' long and 3'6" broad at its widest.

J D Duncan 1883.

This canoe is now in the People's Palace Museum, Glasgow. Sited from description above to area centred NS 5973 6418.

Visited by OS (WMJ) 7 September 1951.

This logboat was revealed in January 1880 when the level of the River Clyde was lowered by the removal of a weir; it was embedded in a clay layer on a small island 'immediately above the Hutchesontown Bridge' and 'almost immediately opposite Nelson's Monument on the Green'.

The remains of the boat comprised the forward section and one side, and measured about 24' (7.3m) in length and about 3'6" (1.1m) in beam. Three notches noted were 'evidently intended to receive the seats of the rowers' and in the bottom of the boat there was a 'raised bar' which was thought to be a footrest but was more probably a false rib, whether detached or left in the solid.

The boat suffered further damage when it was removed two months later, and is currently in course of display preparation at the People's Palace Museum, Glasgow Green, under accession number GAGM 91-69. The timber is in good condition and has a slightly polished appearance, but the existence of areas of light-toned wood may indicate former conservation treatment. There are few knots but the boat has suffered considerably from splitting and both sides are held in place by iron reinforcement.

After shrinkage, the remaining section of the boat measures 2.6m in length over all and up to 0.6m in beam; as now positioned the sides survive to a height of 0.32m above the flat floor. The bottom is about 40mm thick and the sides vary between about 10mm and 40mm in thickness, being thicker near the stern. There are no thickness-gauge holes, but near the starboard bow there are marks made by an adze or chisel-like implement which measured about 32mm in breadth and was struck in a forward direction. On the evidence of the surviving remains, the slenderness coefficient was apparently about 6.9.

The bow is rounded and the sides have probably been slightly flared. The stern has been closed by a transom which is now missing; its groove measures about 15mm in breadth and about 5mm in depth. The McGrail morphology code is 44ax:1xx:533 and the form was a variant of the dissimilar-ended category.

J D Duncan 1883; R J C Mowat 1996, visited August 1987.