Thames Barges – an Introduction

Before coaches arrived at the end of the 18^th Century as roads finally became less rutted, royal or state processions in London went by water. Earlier progresses had been on horseback, but the river Thames offered a less bumpy alternative. The love of pageantry grew with the Tudors. Processions by barge from the City of London up to Westminster or down to Greenwich, became part of the pattern of city life. It was a direct route and was pleasanter when open sewers ran in the plague infested streets and people could be crushed against the walls. Royal residences were on the banks of the Thames, as were the town houses of many of the nobility whose gardens stretched down to their own landing stairs. Even with the advent of coaches during the reign of Elizabeth I, the river still provided a more comfortable way of travelling than springless carriages on roads with no proper surface for the next three centuries. In 1399 at the coronation of Henry IV, the fountains ran red with wine and 6,000 horsemen accompanied the King as he passed through the City.
It was usual for each company to join the mayor and sheriffs both on Lord Mayor’s Day and when they were summoned to attend at royal processions or on such occasions as the reception of distinguished visitors from the continent. These they were required to meet ‘at Gravesend, in their formalities, and so to attend them to London in their barges if they came by water, and if by land then they were ordered to meet them on Blackheath’. It is worthy of note that the distance over water from Gravesend to the Tower of London, at the edge of the City of London, is 26 miles, so the oarsmen who propelled these large and heavily populated barges upstream against the current were strong men indeed.