This section lists published primary sources about shipbuilding in medieval England, in chronological order. Scholars have concentrated on the abundant information to be found in accounts of building or repairing ships for the English crown, which are mostly preserved in the E101 archive class of the TNA, but there are some accounts of shipbuilding in local archives and sources.
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J. T. Tinniswood, “English Galleys, 1272–1377,” The Mariner’s Mirror, 35:4 (1949): 276-315. A useful summary of the extant accounts of galleys built on the orders of the king, with discussion of the typse and features of boats, the time required to build them, materials and building processes. rigging, and other equipment. He covers the following accounts for galleys built c. 1295 at: Dunwich (a summary account only in TNA E372/147, m. 2d); Ipswich (detailed and summary accounts in TNA E101/5/7; E372/149. m. 3d); London (2 galleys: sumary of both in E372/140, r. 13d, edited in Antiquaries Jnl (Oct. 1927) by C. Johnson; with some extracts for the first galley in E10/521/3; the second galley is in E101/571/3); Lyme (detailed and summary accounts in E101/5/21 and 165/13, Edward II); Newcastle (detailed and summary accounts, which he considers the best of all the accounts: E101/5/20; E372/147, r. 14d, ed. Archaeologia aeliana, as below); Southampton (detailed account in E101/5/2, ed. in Mariner’s Mirror as below); York (detailed account in E101/5/8). In addition, he notes La Phlipe built at Lynn in 1336 (printed by Nicholas; see below); a new galley fitted out at Winchelsea in 1347 (short account in E101/20/22); repairs of two ships at Bayonne, c. 1350 (BL Add. Mss. 17364; extracts in Lindsay’s History of Merchant Shipping, p. 636, but now printed in full, as below); and the Paul of London (inventory in Letter Book G, in Riley, below and now edited by Alan Moore, Mariner’s Mirror 6:4).
R. J. Whitwell and C. Johnson, “The “Newcastle” Galley, A. D. 1294,” Archaeologia aeliana, 4th series 2 (1926): 142-96. An English translation and Latin transcript with a glossary of the particular account (TNA E101/5/20) of the building of a galley funded by the port of Newcastle in 1294-96 for naval service. The expenses are organized by week; after the first week, the editors only note ‘the salient features of each week’s account” in a narrative format for the translation, but give the full account in Latin. Further notes by R. X. Whiting in ibid, vol. 13 (1936).
R. C. Anderson, “English Galleys in 1295,” The Mariner’s Mirror, 14:3 (1928): 220-241. Transcription of the account for the Southampton galley by R. Whitwell (TNA E101/5/2) edited with notes by R. C. Anderson.
Ian Friel, “The Building of the Lyme Galley, 1294–1296,” Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 108 (1986): 41-44. Summarizes the purchase of materials and the number and types of workers om an account (TNA E101/5/21) of the building of a galley for the king by the Dorset port of Lyme Regis. See also the YouTubevideo of his 2013 Gresham College lecture on “1295: The Year of the Galleys” when the crown ordered 20 large war galleys to be constructed, The accounts for those at Ipswich, London (two galleys), Lyme Regis (Dorset), Newcastle, Southampton, and York survive, along with some details for those at Dunwich and Grimsby.
“The Bayonne Galleys,” ed. Susan Rose, The Naval Miscellany VI, Navy Records Society, vol. 146 (2004). An account of repairs to three Bayonne ships hired by the English crown in the early fourteenth century.
Nicholas Harris Nicholas, “Expences of Building a Galley, “La Philipe,” in the 10th Edward III, 1336,” History of the Royal Navy from the Earliest Times to the Wars of the French Revolution, volume 2. 1327-1422 (London, 1847), pp. 469-74. Includes translated extracts of the building of the ship at Lynn in 1336.
“Accounts from the Early Years of the Office of the Clerk of the King’s Ships; Thomas de Snetesham’s Accounts for 1344–45 and 1350–54,” ed. Susan Rose, The Naval Miscellany VIII, Navy Records Society, vol, 164 (2017).
“A Medieval Cordage Account,” Mariner’s Mirror 42 (1956): 67-73. Translation of a particular account of Matthew de Torkesey, Clerk of the King’s Ships (TNA E101/27/15) detailing the purchase of a variety of ropes, cables, and hempen thread (much from Bridport) and the costs of making such items as hausers and different kinds of ropes for specific royal ships, 1358-1363. Includes notes by J. T. Tinniswood, who defines many of the specialized terms used in the accounts.
“Delivery of a Barge, provided by the City to serve under the King, together with the rigging and tackle thereof, to William Martlesham, its master,” in Memorials of London and London Life in the 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries, ed. H. T. Riley (London, 1868), pp. 368-71. Translation of an Anglo-Norman indenture of 1373 (London Letter Book G, fol. ccciv) that lists the equipment of the barge called Paul, constructed for the city of London. On BHO.
Mrs. W. J. Carpenter Turner, “The Building of the Holy Ghost of the Tower, 1414-1416, and her Subsequent History,” Mariner’s Mirror 40 (1954): 270-81. Extracts information from the account (TNA E364/61) of William Soper, Clerk of the Ships for Henry V, on the building of the Holy Ghost in Southampton.
Mrs. W. J. Carpenter Turner, “The Building of the Gracedieu, Valentine, and Falconer at Southampton, 1416-1420,” Mariner’s Mirror 40 (1954): 55-72. Contains not a straight transcription, but extracts from the accounts of Robert Berd, Clerk of Works (TNA E364/57) for the building of the massive (1400 tons) Gracedieu for Henry V. The Falconer and Valentine were smaller balingers in the retinue of the Gracedieu. For context on the ship’s significance, see the podcast, “Grace Dieu and Henry V’s Proto-Royal Navy,” of The Maritime History Podcast, and for its later history of the ship, see “Grace Dieu,” Sotonopedia.
The Navy of the Lancastrian Kings: Accounts and Inventories of William Soper, Keeper of the King’s Ships, 1422-1427, ed. Susa Rose, Navy Records Society, vol. 123, 1982.
Naval Accounts and Inventories in the Reign of Henry VII, ed. M. Oppenheim, Navy Records Society, vol. 8 (1896). Includes the full accounts of two Clerks of the Kings Ships; Thomas Roger’s for 1485-88 (which includes the reign of Richard III) and Robert Brygandyne’s for 1495-97.
