Monument record HRF 012 - Ashby Dell

The Ashby Dell Ship. ?Early Saxon boat, measuring 54 feet long overall, 6 feet deep amidships, found in 1830 in Ashby Dell, probably during excavations for the planting of trees. A full record, together with drawings made by a Mr Keable (who was the estate carpenter, also described as 'agent and draughtsman to H. Mussenden Leathes of Herringfleet Hall'), was made at the time. An abstract of this was published by his great- nephew, Kenneth Luck in a local newspaper in 1927 (R1). Luck died in 1933 and his papers were burned by his landlady (S1). Note: Mussenden Leathes archives are in Ipswich Record Office (ref HA 403) (S5).
Site examined in 1956 by Dr J M Lambert & C Green by a series of borings showing no trace of silt or a former creek 'around the approximate site of the boat' [based on what?] so presumed to have been deliberately buried away from a water course, although no record of a body or grave goods are known (S1). In 1927 Luck had thought it had become silted in an ancient waterway! (S2)(R1). (Note: Barbara Green records only a single boring by Green & Lambert being published (S3)(R3) and it remains unclear as to where the boring/s was located).
Apparently no iron was used in the boat, fixings with wooden trenails or lashings. For detailed description and discussion, see (S1)(S2).
No precise findspot is recorded. Ashby Dell is marked on 1980 1:10000 OS map at circa (see 'Not to be published on web' tab for finder/s and/or findspot/s) but this is shown as Ashby Hole [gravel pits] on the 1880s OS map, which also shows 'The Dell' at (see 'Not to be published on web' tab for finder/s and/or findspot/s) (as just within Herringfleet former parish boundary, though closer to Ashby village (and church) than Herringfleet) in January 2007.
Other documentary sources, for instance tithe maps, need checking to verify findspot - see (S5).