Shipbuilding industry at its peak

c. 1800

The shipbuilding industry on the River Arun reached its greatest extent around the beginning of the nineteenth century, with multiple yards producing wooden sailing vessels for the coastal trade, the fishing fleet and the Royal Navy. The Harvey yard and its competitors employed carpenters, caulkers, riggers and other skilled tradesmen, and the launch of a new ship was a major community event. The industry would decline as iron and steel replaced wood in ship construction, but the boatbuilding tradition continued on a smaller scale.