The Layer Keeper
The mud deposit in the river had been known from earliest times as
the ‘layer’. A common occurrence in many ports. A combination of
fine mud, silt, and small pebbles, it was considered an asset if it was
extensive throughout the commercial area, enabling ships to sit
comfortably at low tide. On a seventeenth century ship every joint, peg,
mortise, and dovetail creaked and groaned as the ship floated. Much more
intense was the stress if the ship was beached. Strain of the sea soft
timbers opened joints and caused timbers to warp and spring. Oakum would
spring from the planks. The crew would need to continually plug crevices
with fresh oakum, hot pine pitch and tar - a constant battle.
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| It was evident from the 1500s that
careless dropping of ballast in the Town Reach was beginning to have a
detrimental effect on the quality of the layer. Equally, the same
material was contributing in no small way to the deposition at the mouth
of the bay, increasing the height of the bar and reducing the depth of
water available at high tide. Various ordinances were passed to enable
the layer keeper to police the situation and discourage ships from
discharging their ballast in inappropriate areas.
The first appointment of Layer Keepers was in 1583, in some years the
harvest of fines from errant ships was quite extensive. Robert Porter of
Watchet was fined 2s.6d. in 1624 for getting caught ‘heaving ballast
into the river.’
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