Greenwich Hospital.

Greenwich Hospital. © National Maritime Museum, London

Repro ID: PY3286

Description: Greenwich Hospital on a windy day with a hay barge and steam packet on the choppy river. In a trade where cargoes earned money according to their weight, a barge with a hold full of hay would not earn very much, so it became a general practice when loading a hay stack onto a barge, to build it up on deck to a height of about 12 feet. In time special barges were built for this trade, which were wider (beamier), and shallower in the water (to allow them tpp get further up shallow creeks) and with reduced size hatches (to give more deck space for the bales of hay).

Creator: David Law (artist & engraver), Robert Dunthorne (publisher)

Date: 1 Jan 1885

Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London