Trow - Types

Types

There are two traditional types of Severn Trow. Prior to the 1840s the River Severn was tidal up to Worcester. The trows that were used on the tidal portion of the River were called Downstream Trows whilst those that sailed north of Worcester were called Upstream Trows and were smaller. An example of a Downstream Trow, the Spry, is at the Blists Hill site of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums. During the summer the flow of water was often very low and so the trows were pulled over the resultant shallows. A rope was attached to the mast and the men who pulled the boats were called bow hauliers. The men would enter into a contract with the captain of the trow in the many pubs which were all along the Severn riverbanks and there was a right of way along the bankside.

A smaller version of the above (18 feet max) is peculiar to the Fleet lagoon in Dorset. It is used primarily for the transport of mackerel caught by seine net fishing crews off Chesil Beach. Once caught they are boxed and transported across to the mainland by these flat bottomed boats. Unlike the River Severn version the "Fleet" variant is only ever towed, rowed or punted and has no mast or sail.

A replica Wye trow, named Hereford Bull, was constructed in 2012 to participate in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant.