Deptford royal dockyard was established in the early 16th century and
closed in 1869. Crucial to the maintenance of the nation's naval power,
the dockyard grew from a single storehouse and wet and dry docks to a
great complex including stores, slipways, mast docks and other
structures supporting ancillary industries, such as sailmaking, timber-
and ironworking. Shipbuilding was accompanied by constant repair and
rebuilding as the dockyard worked to keep the navy at sea. In its time,
the dockyard was visited by royalty and saw the launch of many famous
ships. The Mary Rose was repaired here; Francis Drake was knighted at
the dockyard, which became the final resting place of his ship, the
Golden Hinde. The area of Sayes Court, where John Evelyn entertained his
friend Samuel Pepys and which was wrecked in 1698 by Czar Peter the
Great, was part of the excavation. Princess Louise launched the last
vessel from Deptford in 1869, timber-hulled but now steam-powered, the
'sloop' Druid. Most of the dockyard buildings were leveled in the 20th
century, but important below-ground remains were investigated in 2000-12
in the largest-ever excavation of a naval dockyard. Integrating
archaeological evidence with maps and written sources, this book traces
the yard's development as it was developed and expanded to keep pace
with advances in naval technology and the demands of empire, and throws
light on life outside the yard for the workforce.
