Doom Bar

The Doom Bar is a bank of sand at the estuary of the River Camel where it meets the Celtic Sea on Cornwall's north coast. It represents a significant hazard to shipping and there have been many ships wrecked there through the centuries. It became so notorious that many vessels would risk being wrecked rather than negotiate the entrance to Padstow. The name is a corruption of Dunbar which simply means 'sandbank', and prior to 1900 it was often referred to as Dunbar Sands.

The Doom Bar is the subject of Cornish folklore and has inspired poetry. The popular bitter by Sharp's Brewery named after it has become their lead beer, selling 45,000 barrels in 2008.

History

The port of Padstow nearby was prosperous in the Saxon times, and although it's fortunes had waned by the time of Edward III, it was still able to send "two high-sterned turretted vessels" to the Siege of Calais (1346). The Doom Bar appeared some time after this event, during the time of Henry VIII (1491–1547).

The sand found on the bank is mostly made up of seashells and when analysed in the 19th century, it was discovered that an average of 60-64% was calcium carbonate (carbonate of lime). This combined with the natural sea salt made the sand very valuable to farmers to mix into manure. There is evidence of sand being dredged from the Doom Bar as early 1602. A study by published by Sir Henry De La Beche in 1839 showed that around 80 men were permanently employed to dredge the Doom Bar from several barges, removing an estimated 100,000 tons of sand per year. In the 50 years prior to 1836, the Doom Bar lost between six and eight feet in height, due to this dredging. Sir Henry also estimated that the sand from the Doom bar account for somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of the sand used for agriculture in Devon and Cornwall.

Shipwrecks

File:Wrecks off the Doom Bar.jpg

Positions of wrecks off the Doom Bar

Dangerous area

For centuries, the Doom Bar was regarded as a significant danger to ships — to be approached with caution or end up run aground. In fact, it has accounted for around 600 wrecks since records began about 200 years ago. When sails were the main power source, ships would regularly come round Stepper Point and would then lose their wind, leaving them to drift. To make matters worse a land wind "the flaws" blew off shore from behind Stepper Point and pushed the hapless vessels onto the Doom Bar. Even if they were to drop anchor, it would gain no purchase on the sand. If the tide was low, it was only a matter of time before they hit the Doom Bar.

As far back as 1761, there were recommended methods for entering the Camel Estuary during a rough weather. The London Chronicle published a letter explaining the difficulty of reaching the harbour whilst North North West winds are blowing. It was, however, possible to enter the harbour if a ship kept close to Stepper Point, with the tide at least half way up. If caught by "the flaws", a rope could be taken to shore, where rings had been attached to the cliff in lieu of an anchor.

Due to this difficult area, help was often given to larger boats coming in, generally by pilots who would wait at Stepper Point when a ship signalled it would be entering. Sometimes salvors would step in and help. Unfortunately, so dangerous was the area, salvors sometimes attempted to overstate the danger in court, so as to extort more money from the owners. In one case, The Towan was not in significant danger and would not have needed salvors, however they interfered and then attempted to claim a large amount against the owner.

HMS Whiting

One of the most significant wrecks on the Doom Bar is the naval ship, HMS Whiting. She was a 12-gun schooner, originally the USS Arrow until she was captured by the Royal Navy on 8 May 1812 and renamed. On 15 September 1816, she ran aground on the Doom Bar as the tide was ebbing, and the wind was not blowing in a direction that could help.

According to the court martial transcripts, an attempt to move her was made at the next high tide, but she was taking on water and it became impossible to save her. Her abandonment happened over the next few days. The officer in charge, Lt. John Jackson, lost one year's seniority for negligence, and three crewmen were given 50 lashes for desertion.

In May 2010, the Nautical Archaeology Society, with the help of Padstow Primary School, mounted a search to find HMS Whiting.

1911 Lifeboat Incident

On 12 November 1911, there were two ships wrecked upon the sand bank on one day. The Island Maid, a schooner, had hit the Doom Bar, was in distress and headed towards the harbour. The 1911 Lifeboat team mounted a rescue, and the full crew of five were brought safely to the shore. The Island Maid itself went down near the Doom Bar, where it still rests to this day and is often used for diving expeditions.

The Angele, a brigantine, ran aground soon after, but as the tide had turned and the evening was drawing in, the lifeboat crew refused to mount a rescue. The lifeboat coxswain had to raise a new crew from the village and when they finally managed to mount a rescue, they reached the Angele and found only one survivor who turned out to be the ship's captain. For their intrepid rescue of that captain, three members of the lifeboat crew, Mr J. Horst, Mr F. Reynolds and Mr. W. Cook were awarded the thanks of the National Lifeboat Institution on 28 February 1912.

The coxswain did not fault the crew who refused to go out, explaining that he'd rather they lost heart on the shore than near the boat. Furthermore, the coroner returned a verdict of "Accidental Drowning", attributing no fault to the lifeboat crew.

Recent times

The RNLI still have to deal with troubles at the Doom Bar to this day. On 25 June 2007, the Padstow lifeboat and helicopter had rescue two separate yachts from the area of the Doom Bar. On 18 February 2010, the sand moved to reveal a century old wreck. Although evidence is inconclusive, the Harbour Master believes it is the wreckage of the Antoinnette, a ship which was meant to take coal to Brazil, but was wrecked on the Doom Bar in 1895.

Partial Removal

The Doom Bar has moved significantly in the past 175 years

One of the first serious proposals to remove the Doom Bar came from the Plymouth and Padstow Railway company, who proposed a creating a breakwater on the Doom Bar itself. This would stop the build up of sand in the estuary, thereby increasing the trade that could go through Padstow.

Although the breakwater never came to fruition, a Select committee on Harbours for Refuge was set up in 1858. They created Padstow Harbour Commission who were tasked with making Padstow a harbour for large ships no matter what the tide, a feat which would require the removal of the Doom Bar. With the bar there, Padstow could still be used be converted for use in emergencies, at high water.

The bar could not be dredged without re-silting and in 1858 there were not enough resources to keep on top of this so other solutions were discussed. One solution was to construct two guidewalls, which would have the effect of sluicing the water across the Doom Bar, thereby removing it. There were concerns that the bar was made up of "hard sand" and therefore would be difficult to remove.

Furthermore, there were also discussions of removing part of Stepper Point to stop the eddying winds, and ensure a true wind into the harbour. By 1859, a small part of Stepper Point had been cut down, which had improved the situation.

During the course of the discussions, it was concluded that while the Doom Bar could be removed by a variety of methods, it would not improve the harbour sufficiently, and that a harbour of refuge would be better on the Welsh coast.

During the 20th century, the Doom Bar was regularly dredged to create a much easier entrance to Padstow and to reduce the number of ships wrecked in the area. To this day, the Camel Estuary is regularly dredged by the Padstow Harbour Commission's two dredgers, Sandsnipe and Mannin.

Legend

According to folklore, the Mermaid of Padstow created the Doom Bar as a dying curse, after being shot. As with many legends, there are many different versions of the story and the precise details are unclear. Some versions start by stating that she used to guide ships up the estuary, others that she would visit and spy upon ships in harbour, yet more tell of how she used to sit upon a rock at Hawkers Cove.

One story tells that she met a local man and fell in love with him. When her love became too strong, she tried to lure him beneath the waves and he escaped by shooting her. The ballad, The Mermaid of Padstow, tells the story of Tom Yeo, who shot the mermaid because he thought she was a seal.

The ending of the legend is generally similar. With her dying breath, she levelled a curse at Padstow stating that the harbour will be desolate or unsafe. Some variants mention her throwing sand at the harbour. With that, a great storm came, wrecking many boats and creating the great sand bank known as the Doom Bar.

Legacy

The Doom Bar at low water

Beer

One of the best known references to the Doom Bar is the bitter beer by Sharp's Brewery which has been a CAMRA Beer of the year (2004) and has been finalist in the Great British Beer Festival in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Doom Bar also gives its name to a pub overlooking the sandbank. The Doom Bar pub is located in New Polzeath and has views across Polzeath and Padstow bay to the Doom Bar.

Literature

The Doom Bar has been used to illicit feelings of melancholy in a number of poems. For example, Rosamund Watson's Ballad of Pentyre Town talks of giving up everything for love and uses the Doom Bar as imagery. Another, The Coastguard relates the legend of Mermaid of Padstow before telling of ships getting caught on a "Sorrowful Bar of Doom".

As far back as Victorian times, The Doom Bar was the subject of a poem by Alice E. Gillington, The Doom-Bar. It relates the story of a girl who gives an engraved ring to her love when he sails across the Doom Bar, breaking her heart. Four years later, when the tide is lower than they had ever seen it, her friends persuade her to come out and walk upon the Doom Bar, where she finds the ring inside a scallop. Realising that he just tossed it aside on the night he left, she resolves not to remain heart-broken and to sail across the Doom Bar herself.

A play, The Doom Bar, was written about the area in the early 1900s by Arthur Hansen Bush, concerning smuggling and wrecking. Although there was no interest in London, it did quite well in USA and was schedule to tour in such cities as Chicago and New York. However, after a series of mishaps blamed on Cruel Coppinger, culminating in a Baltimore fire the play was considered cursed by America's actor's union and banned.