Early 19th century English school, Anchor House, Bubwith chu...

Hammer

£400

Early 19th century English school, Anchor House, Bubwith church and river with three sailing vessels, unsigned, oil on board, 66 x 82cm, painted cornice shaped frame and mounted into a wall, 123 x 97cm.
History; this painting was mounted in Vine House on the High Street in Bubwith. Until 1918 it was the London Joint Bank Ltd, then the Midland Bank. Wetherall's then bought the building and rented the room this painting was in to the bank which opened between 12.00 and 2.30 every Thursday until the building was sold in the late 1970's and was retained by the family.
Bubwith stands at a crossing point over the river Derwent and there are natural staithes which make it an ideal landing place for river goods. The 38 miles of river between Malton and its confluence with the river Ouse have been used by small craft since the time of the Romans, and improvements in the 18th century permitted navigation by the barges then trading on other Yorkshire rivers. On the 6th May 1702 the Derwent Navigation Act received the Royal Assent, the driving force behind this Act had been the traders of Malton who were allowed to charge tolls on the cargo carried on any part of the river. By 1724 Malton was at the head of a fully navigable river taking boats of up to 50 tons.
The major traffic during this period was coal coming to Malton which was mined in the pits of Fitzwilliam in the Barnsley area, in 1840 the coal tonnage was 37,898 tons. Lime was also carried in large quantities, as it was used to improve soil fertility and the boats were normally loaded with corn for the return journey. The boats on the river were mainly sailing keels and sloops, but due to the meandering nature of the river the boats would have made extensive use of towing horses.
The navigation was purchased by North Eastern Railway Company on the 1st May 1855 for £40,000, however the increase in rail traffic saw a decline in the navigation traffic and its profitability. In 1935, the statutory Right of Navigation was revoked above Sutton Lock and these days it is only used by pleasure craft.