Boat

When old ships were broken up, the planks and timbers were often reused for other purposes. A stretch of planking 5.5 metres (18 feet) long and 1.5 metres (5 feet) high was found in excavations in 1999. It had been reused to line a tank for keeping fish on the south bank of the Thames near London Bridge. Tree-ring analysis showed that the vessel had been built in the 1260s. The upper plank has holes for oars to pass through. The vessel may have been a small war galley (in 1294 Edward I had a galley with 140 oars built in London) or a 'barge' used to carry important passengers.