Archaeological project maps historic boat sheds on Isles of Scilly

Swift, streamlined boats for centuries helped save lives and move people and goods around the treacherous waters of the Isles of Scilly.

An archaeological project has highlighted just how crucial the agile, tough “pilot gigs” were for islanders by mapping 90 sites of sheds that housed the boats, the earliest believed to date back to the 17th century.

Built for strength and lightness and propelled by six oars, the gigs carried pilots to ships navigating around the archipelago, which lies 30 miles (48km) off the mainland of south-west Britain.

A pilot gig in a shed on St Agnes; until now, there had been no data on exactly how many gig sheds there had been on Scilly.
Photograph: Philip Bishop/Alamy

They were also used in rescues and to save cargo from wrecks, as well as supporting the building and maintenance of lighthouses and transporting people and goods between the islands.

Until now, there had been no data on exactly how many gig sheds there had been on Scilly in the characterful vessels’ heyday, with previously only about a dozen recorded.

Cathy Parkes, the project lead archaeologist at the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, said: “We were surprised to find how many there once were. There was always a feeling that there would be more than a dozen but we didn’t know how many.”

A traditional gig shed with slipway at Old Quay on St Martin’s. Photograph: Historic England

Pilot gig racing is now a popular sport in Scilly and the publication of the project report, Porths and Gigs of the Isles of Scilly (a porth is a harbour or gateway), coincides with the annual World Pilot Gig championships there this weekend.

Parkes, who spoke to the Guardian just before heading off to compete in a “supervets” race, said the sites gave a fresh insight into the history of the gigs. “They tell an incredible story of maritime courage, skill and endurance as gig crews battled stormy seas to save ships and lives,” she said.

The study is timely as the climate emergency means that some of the sites are threatened. “It has enabled us to respond to the threat to the sites from coastal erosion and sea-level rise, by helping to record and share this heritage while it still survives,” Parkes said.

Half of the sites still survive as ruins or have some visible remains. A few sheds have been restored. Their walls were usually made of granite, and their roofs thatched using rushes or reeds from pools and inlets, bracken, and straw.

Competitors gather for the World Pilot Gig rowing championships in St Mary’s harbour. Photograph: Tom Nicholson/Reuters

“One of the amazing things about the gig shed sites is they’re readily recognisable because they’re all pretty much 10 metres by three meters [about 32ft x 10ft] – the size of the boat,” said Parkes. “They’re almost like a sort of fossilised boat sitting on the edge of the shore, ready to launch.”

The project, funded by Historic England, also mapped the narrow inter-tidal passages running from the doors of the boatsheds into deeper water that were created by shifting boulders out of the way to clear a route just wide enough for a gig to launch. On the island of Bryher, these are known as drangs, while on St Agnes, they are trackways.

It has also pinpointed strategic hilltop lookout points, including a site which once had a mast to signal to ships that a pilot gig was putting out to sea.

A gig on a trackway on St Agnes; the research also mapped these passages between the sheds and the water to launch the boats. Photograph: Antonio Siwiak/Alamy

The project examined 19th-century maps to find the sheds and drangs, and also spoke to islanders who remembered where they used to be.

Ross Simmonds, the south-west regional director of Historic England, said: “The legacy of gigs and porths matters to us all – it is part of our shared maritime heritage.”