Object Detail
Object Name
wrench
Description
An adjustable wrench, used in boat building by the Hewett family.
Joseph Hewett, grandfather of Cecil Hewett, was an apprentice boatbuilder at the age of fifteen in c1875. Based in Mapledurham and Reading, building Thames barges or 'Lighters'. 'Lighters' took three years to make and weighed 150 tonnes. It took four men, each with an apprentice, to build one boat from oak because they were completely hand-built.
Joseph Hewett, grandfather of Cecil Hewett, was an apprentice boatbuilder at the age of fifteen in c1875. Based in Mapledurham and Reading, building Thames barges or 'Lighters'. 'Lighters' took three years to make and weighed 150 tonnes. It took four men, each with an apprentice, to build one boat from oak because they were completely hand-built.
Accession No
1996.20.11
Collection
River Thames
Associated Period
19th century
20th century
20th century