Title:
HARBOUR AND NAVIGATION
Level: Category
Borough records
Level: Fonds
COLCHESTER 1835 ONWARDS
Level: Sub-Fonds
HARBOUR AND NAVIGATION
Admin History:
The entrance to the River Colne is between St. Osyth point on the east and Mersea Point on the west, a width of about three-quarters of a mile. The river was navigable to the Hythe, a distance of approximately 7 miles. The Port controlled the river from Colne Point to North Bridge, including tidal tributaries, Roman River, Alresford Creek, Geedons Creek and Pyefleet Channel, except Brightlingsea Creek.

It is known that Roman corn galleys used the port area of Colchester in the 2nd century A.D. to import corn. Hythe is a corruption of the Saxon 'Hetha' meaning harbour or haven. From the 12th century the New Hythe or Hythe was established, probably by the deepening or widening of the river from Rowhedge. There is evidence that the river was probably never navigable for larger ships, as early as 1327 wheat for Newcastle was carried in smaller boats to Brightlingsea. Bt the 13th century the river was becoming blocked with weirs and piles, some associated with oyster fishing. In the 15th century Colchester was a wool-exporting centre and sailing vessels carried the produce from the local weaving industry to continental Europe. By the 16th century the cloth cargoes started to decline, but the Port of Colchester handled more varied cargoes, including coal from Newcastle, and exports of corn, meat and dairy produce to London. The waterway was considerably silted up by this time and it was usual for sea-going ships to moor at Wivenhoe or Rowhedge and transfer their cargo to smaller boats for the Hythe. Although dredging began c.1600 it was not until the 18th century that any sailing vessels could navigate to the upper reaches of the river, Until the mid 19th century the vessels using the river were very small, but with increased dredging and the introduction of steam vessels, the size of craft steadily increased from about 50 tons carrying capacity in 1800 to 300 tons in 1920. Further deepening of the channel permitted ships of 7 to 10 feet draught to navigate the river, and the widening of the swinging berth in 1938 enabled vessels up to 190 feet long to use the Port. By the early 1970s sailing barges had been replaced by motor vessels and almost no steam ships were seen. Up to 1894 the largest vessel navigating the Hythe was 160 registered tonnage, by the early 1970s the figure had doubled, as the result of keeping the channel dredged of silt.

In 1750 jurisdiction over navigation in the river transferred by Act of Parliament from the Borough to a Navigation Commission. From 1750 to 1850 at least three major schemes were considered for improving the river, but none were carried out. In 1880 there was much complaint about the condition of the channel and it was reported that this had led to much decline in traffic. Vessels drawing 8 feet of water took about a week to get from Wivenhoe to Hythe Quay (3 miles). In 1892 an Act of Parliament transferred the management of the navigation back to Colchester Borough and empowered them to borrow money to enable river improvements to be made, with Government approval.
Until the 19th century the Harbour dealt with coastal and continental trade, but with the arrival of the railway in 1843, the importance of the Port declined. During the First World War there was a steady increase in coastal traffic. The Second World War caused pressure on larger ports brought further business to Colchester Harbour.

By the early 1970s Colchester Port was self-supporting, costing approximately £45,000 a year, and in the post-war period the volume of trade had doubled. In 1974, the Department of Engineering then responsible for the Harbour recorded that there was an average of 20 300 ton ships a week in the Port. In 1974 it was calculated that approxiamtely 650,000 tonnes of cargo passed through the Port, with barley and other foodstuufs exported to Holland and Germany, and sand to London. Chief imports were timber from Poland, Sweden, Finland and Portugal, maize from Holland, fertiliser from Germany, Holland and France.
In 1974 there were 36 buoys and beacons from Colne Point to Wivenhoe, 12 lighted and floodlights from Wivenhoe to the Hythe.
System Arrangement:
There appear to be two sequences of records, both described as Harbour Master's log books. The first sequence (D/B 6 Uh1) appear to have originated more as reports made by the Harbour Master. These then evolved into something similar to the main sequence of log books (D/B 6 Uh2). They cease to contain written reports and are just brief summaries of the main log books, but with much less detail.