A brief history of ferry crossings
Erase all features but rivers from a map of Britain and you’ll discover a latticework both intricate and labyrinthine. Nowadays these veins and arteries of the landscape are crossed by such a quantity of bridges we rarely consider a waterway might prove an impediment to a journey. But this blithe attitude towards the nation’s rivers is a relatively modern phenomenon. For thousands of years, the course of a river and whether it happened to be high, low or in spate, determined the route you could take. Even then, an incautious crossing or a slippery stone underfoot could lead to disaster. Bridges being expensive to construct and maintain (and, in times of war, defend from destruction), the ferry often provided a means of getting from A to B without deviating wildly from your path or being washed out to sea.
There’s evidence of ferry operators plying their trade in Britain as far back as Roman times. The south Welsh town of Briton Ferry, for example, recalls the place where a boat service linked two sections of Roman road across the River Neath. In medieval times, ferry services were often run by monasteries across a nearby river for the convenience of their own adepts and to raise funds. A handful of ancient crossings still exist, albeit now run by councils, private companies or volunteers (like Worcester’s Cathedral Ferry and Yorkshire’s Nun Monkton Ferryboat in this list).
Though short river crossings were relatively cheap, they were not something most people could afford too often. Longer voyages were definitely the preserve of the more well-heeled. In the 1300s, for instance, anyone taking the ferry from Westminster Abbey two miles along the Thames to London (still largely within its Roman walls) would expect to pay 2d. It mightn’t seem much but it was nearly two days’ wages for a common labourer.
The Industrial Revolution brought with it canals and their river-crossing aqueducts, and a surge in the building of railway and road bridges. The innovations heralded a steep decline in the number of inland ferry services. Indeed, it’s a wonder the craft didn’t die out altogether. Some were saved because the topography or width of the river made a bridge impractical, others because the likely custom did not warrant the expenditure involved in a physical crossing. Today, offshore ferries continue to play an important part in connecting up the nation, serving hundreds of thousands of islanders from Britain’s most northerly – Shetland’s 10-minute Yell to Unst run (inset) – right down to the Isles of Scilly.
Some modern river ferries are impressive feats of engineering. The Torpoint chain ferry that links Devon and Cornwall at Plymouth is one of the world’s largest and takes on the strong tidal currents of the Hamoaze. Many others are much more humble affairs: little tugs, motorised launches and even rowing boats (see Walberswick Ferry opposite).
Wherever they are, they all have one thing in common: they charge a fee. In life, as in death, one must always pay the ferryman.