Artwork : ArchiveNo00137

Elm Tree Pump 1759

ContributionForm
Contributor Name	HMS Victory
Contributor Image	Peter_Goodwin_pic.jpg
Profession
Location	Portsea
Collection Date	05.06.08 3.40pm
Artefact Name	Elm Tree Pump
Artefact Description	Hollow wooden trunk. 80 x 23cm with diamenter of 10cm. Made of Elm. Weathered and smooth. Light brown in colour with some holes in it.
Artefact Date	1759
Artefact Stored	Orlop deck – mid-ship, HMS Victory
Artefact Form
Artefact Image	elm_tree_pump.jpg
Sample Taken	Chip and dust from inside and out
Sample Image
History of Artefact	Installed in the ship between 1759 – 1765. It used to go through the bottom of the hull to supply water to wash the decks and to put out any fires. This is one of several pumps on the Victory. ‘Elm can be submerged in wood or mud and nothing would happen to it. They would hand-bore through the length of the tree to make large, long pumps.’ Historian - Peter Goodwin
Historian	Peter Goodwin
Previous Owners	None
Special Memories	‘Elm tree was on the top of the oak post used for the stern. A whole oak tree would have been used to make the stern post. Six thousand trees were used to make HMS Victory. The oak post was fitted into the ship in 1759 – the tree would have already been a hundred years old so it would have been alive from 1840 (at the latest)!’ Historian - Peter Goodwin
Artwork Image	00137_max_web.jpg

Topic attachments
I	Attachmentb	Action	Size
jpg	00137_max_web.jpg	manage	476.6 K
jpg	Peter_Goodwin_pic.jpg	manage	61.0 K
jpg	elm_tree_pump.jpg	manage	43.5 K