Nails and Roves

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When Basil Brown's famous excavation at Sutton Hoo was completed in 1939, it was perhaps of no surprise that those fabulous ship-burial treasures revealed in Mound One took centre stage: That beautifully decorated helmet and the garnet-encrusted jewellery have become icons of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship.

And yet, one of the most significant finds, which had immense implications for constructional archaeology, was a host of humble iron nails, still joined to their washers which, like a join-the-dots diagram, clearly delineated the position of the ship's planking, long since rotted away.

These are what every ship and boat builder now knows as nails and roves: an extremely sturdy and adaptable fastening that essentially rivets two planks of wood together.  It creates an effective - or almost effective - waterproof union.

I have a lovely 17th-century single boat-rib with the verdigris patinated copper nail and rove still clinging on, long after the rest of the hull had disappeared. 

Boat planking was also joined using the familiar clenched nail and I once had a little wooden sailing boat with this simpler (and presumably cheaper) fastening; it was a pretty little thing. However better-built boats always had their laps fastened with nails and roves. Ironically, I had one of those too, but it sank on its first outing! I only had it for a short time!

You can still buy copper nails and roves—they remain very popular with classic boat-building enthusiasts. So of course, I had to try and  assemble a cleft-panel basket using copper nails and roves. And here it is:






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