Hulk Assemblages: Assessing the national context

Museum of London Archaeology, 2012. (updated 2013) https://doi.org/10.5284/1011895. How to cite using this DOI

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Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1011895
Sample Citation for this DOI

Museum of London Archaeology (2013) Hulk Assemblages: Assessing the national context [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1011895

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Introduction

Photograph of some hulks

The Hulk Assemblages Project was undertaken by Museum of London Archaeology, with input from the Thames Discovery Programme and the Nautical Archaeology Society. The aim of the project was to create a method for quantifying known hulk assemblages in England, and to create a nationwide database of hulk assemblages, that could be used to identify thematic, geographic and temporal gaps in the known data. A comprehensive survey of hulks or hulk assemblages in England has not previously been conducted. This project brings together data from multiple sources, including Historic Environment Records, the National Record of the Historic Environment, Rapid Coastal Zone Assessments, the National Historic Ships Register, and that held by specialist societies and research groups. A total of 199 hulk assemblages have been identified, ranging in size from two to more than 80 vessels; nine assemblages contained more than 20 vessels. Assemblages are most likely to be found in estuaries, creeks and harbours, however their distribution around England is biased by past recording, especially systematic recording done by local maritime and nautical archaeology societies and university departments. The study has revealed much variation in how hulks are recorded in Historic Environment Records, and in how they are described. Obvious geographic gaps in the distribution of assemblages are apparent. Densities of assemblages often coincide with areas where local specialist societies are active. These asset densities and gaps provided the basis for a number of general research priorities, such as known assemblages that have not been subject to detailed survey, and areas that would benefit from field survey to discover new assemblages.

Part Two

This project built on the results from the Hulk Assemblages Project Part One. The primary aim of the Hulks Part Two project was to fill some of the geographical data gaps that were identified in the Hulk Assemblages Project Part One, and thus complete the audit of known hulk assemblages in England. Hulks Part Two covered south Kent, East and West Sussex, North and North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, the Humber region, Cumbria and Merseyside, and identified an additional 10 hulk assemblages within this study area. This report presents these additional assemblages with the earlier results and analysis from Hulks Part One, a total of 209 hulk assemblages have now been identified in mainland England, ranging in size from two to more than 80 vessels; nine assemblages contained more than 20 vessels. There remain some obvious geographic gaps in the distribution of assemblages. Densities of assemblages often coincide with areas where local specialist societies are active. These asset densities and gaps provided the basis for a number of general research priorities, such as known assemblages that have not been subject to detailed survey, and areas that would benefit from field survey to discover new assemblages.

In addition to the main survey, the Hulks Part Two project also included an additional pilot study in the Humber estuary comprising an assessment of readily and freely available online satellite imagery provided by the two main providers of such information, Google Earth and Bing Maps. The aim of the study was to determine if it was possible to identify hulk assemblages using freely available satellite imagery alone. The Humber estuary was selected as it was the only part of the Hulks Part Two project area that had not been subject to the National Mapping Programme aerial survey in its entirety and there were very few hulks recorded in the HER. Six potential hulk assemblages were identified, five of which had not been identified by any other source during Hulks Part One or Part Two. The pilot study demonstrated in this case that the use of satellite imagery as a preliminary means of identifying the presence of previously unrecorded hulk assemblages over a large survey area was quick and effective.


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