Size

My first impression on seeing the ship was ‘Bloody hell, that’s small.’ I remembered that Scarborough’s Hispaniola 'pirate' tourist boat looked bigger than this. Looking at it, I’m not sure I’d trust it to ferry me across the Thames, never mind use it to circumnavigate the world. There was little chance of that anyway, since it was propped up in a dry dock. Maybe the surrounding high buildings made the ship look even smaller. These types of ships always feel top heavy to me, with their high masts and rigging. Until they’d captured that Spanish gold and silver, I bet the ship rolled quite a bit in a heavy sea. I was already starting to feel seasick. At least it looked like the Golden Hinde figurehead had had a recent lick of paint. The ship was only 25 metres long and so I guessed that it wouldn’t take long to walk around. There was no captain to welcome us aboard and so we climbed a gangway onto the Main Deck.  A few steps to the right and we found ourselves on the Fore Deck. 

Gun Deck

A few more steps took us down to the Gun Deck. It was less of a deck and more of a cavity to crawl around. I wondered whether people were shorter in those days, but research showed that they weren’t. The reason they compressed the height of the deck was to lower the centre of gravity of the ship and so make it faster and more manoeuvrable. The Gun Deck was where most of the 80 crew would sleep too, apparently without blankets. Maybe the cramped conditions made it a little warmer. I almost crawled along the deck to get a better look at the cannons and the display cases. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to reload and fire the cannons down here. There were about a dozen cannons along the sides and two pointing forward from the front of the ship. The Golden Hinde’s  website mentions 22 and so I’m not sure where the other ones are or even where they would be positioned. One of the display cases showed the equipment used to fire the canons. There was a 4lb iron shot and also  a bar shot to damage masts and sails (the two iron balls and chain). Presumably the latter acted like a bolus and wrapped around rigging or woodwork before snapping it off. I guess it was better to keep your head down in a battle. The linstock was the wooden rod used to light the guns at a safe distance. The powder horn was used to prime the guns and the  quadrant used to measure the elevation of a gun’s barrel. There was also a gauge to measure the shot’s diameter. My knees were complaining by this point and so I scampered over to the stairs to descend to the lower deck in the hope that there was a bit more headroom. 

Hold Deck

Thankfully there was a bit more headroom in the hold although it still felt claustrophobic. A display case showed the apparatus used by the barber surgeon. The instruments looked more appropriate for unblocking the bilge, rather than repairing any human damage. The surgeon's armoury included a few ointments, medicines and unguents. The fleam was the bladed tool used for bloodletting. Wounds were kept open for surgery using the metal retractor tool. Cautaurising irons were used to seal a wound shut. I’d guess that the bag type instrument was the clyster pipe used to rectally administer medicines and enemas. Anybody who could no longer suffer toothache would be subject to the dental pelican. Any small appendages that needed amputating, such as fingers and toes, could swiftly be administered with the hammer and chisel. The sharp blade and saw were engaged for more significant amputations. I’m sure it was easier to get a doctor’s appointment than it is nowadays, but I reckon I wouldn’t have wanted to be first in the queue. 

Although the hold was a decent space, it was hard to believe that provisions could be stored here to support 80 mouths over such long periods, especially once they started to store the booty as well. I made my way back up on to the deck and headed for the cabins at the stern of the ship. 

Armoury

The Armoury was the first cabin I came to and thankfully it was a reasonable height. The gentleman and officers would sleep here. I can see why they’d want to be close to the weapons in case the crew became mutinous.  The ship was steered from here using a long pole known as a whipstaff. This was connected to the tiller, which in turn was connected to the rudder. One wall held a rack of pike like weapons. The ship also carried longbows, each one made from a single stave of yew. Another display case showed a selection of weapons. This included a Ballock Dagger and some Firepots. I normally associate firepots with backpacking meals, but these particular ones were clay pots filled with gunpowder and flammable oils. They were thrown at enemy ships. A Morion helmet, used by the Spanish Conquistadors was also displayed in the case. 

The instruments in the navigation display case seemed a bit basic. The wooden board with holes was a traverse board and used by the navigator for recording the ship’s speed and direction using dead reckoning. These intervals were obviously measured using the sand timer. A cross staff was used for celestial navigation which gave a method of calculating latitude. We all know the problems about determining longitude and not surprisingly they didn’t have an accurate clock. There was a plumbline to measure the depth of the water and some dividers for measuring distances when charting. I wondered what they’d make of gps. 

Great Cabin

The Armoury led into the Great Cabin. Unfortunately somebody was carrying out some work there and so it was out of bounds to us. This cabin was used by the gentlemen and officers for eating, recreation and strategising. Two small doors led to the Gallery on the sides of the ship that provided a platform for the gentlemen and officers to fight as well as to use as a toilet, and potentially both at the same time. 

Main Deck

I made my way back to the Main Deck. Most of the crew would have spent the majority of their time up here. There didn’t seem to be a lot of space for 80 people. I looked up at the main mast. A redevelopment was taking  place next door and a crane seemed to extend the mast even higher. The ship wasn't supposed to have a crow’s nest, although I could see a basic one above me. The original had what were known as the cross trees. These were small crossed bars where the lookout could stand. There was also supposed to be a similar mechanism called fighting tops and used by the archers, but I couldn’t make these out either. Apart from the Golden Hinde figurehead, the only other ‘human’ touch I could find on the ship were two carved wooden knightheads on the Main Deck. Apparently the sailors thought that touching these would bring them good luck. I think I would have ended up strapping myself to them for luck; I don’t reckon I could have survived 3 years on this ship. I suppose it all depends on your life alternatives though. 

Reflections

It had only taken about half an hour to complete the full tour of the ship. For those who are unwilling or unable to scramble-crawl along the Gun Deck, then maybe it would take only 20 minutes. It had been a real eye opener as to the conditions that the sailors would have endured in those days. They have my total respect for heading off into the unknown, surviving the harsh conditions and being prepared to fight to the death when the occasion demanded. 

We’d got ‘free’ entry to the Golden Hinde as part of our guided tour ticket at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre (see Globe Theatre). If you didn’t want to visit the Globe, then the admission to the ship was £6 (2026) which I thought was good value. 

As a postscript… it’s worth checking out the ‘The Legend Of Mary Overie’ stone plaque that was located at the end of the dry dock. It recounts  quite an amusing story about how the St Mary Overie dock got its name. I’ll not spoil a canny tale by summarising it here; read the plaque for yourself and have a chuckle.