Disappointment at not
winning a Heritage Lottery Grant in the
BBC’s Restoration series turned to
elation as the Coker Rope and Sail Trust
hosted an open day on Good Friday, 2nd
April, so that the general public could
see the initial results of grants of
£80,000 from English Heritage and
£40,000 from South Somerset District
Council, at Dawe’s Twineworks, West
Coker near Yeovil.
And what did they see? The whole of
the 300ft long building, which had
twisted and sunk as its posts rotted,
supported by scaffolding which raised
up, and was gradually realigning, the
whole of the structure. The scaffolding
had only been erected the week before
and already the twisted shell was
straightening. It had been an anxious
but rewarding time as one roof slate had
been the only casualty in the whole
operation. Patrick Stow and the
Carpenters Fellowship had just six weeks
to complete their task of cutting away
the rotted post ends, cutting in new and
setting them in concrete. All of the
original machinery for rope making was
in place except for the boiler - and
this was to be returned to the
Twineworks by the Westonzoyland Engine
Trust, along with offers of specialist
help and money. The only fly in the
ointment being how to transport the
boiler! Anyone got a 4 ton crane and low
loader?
The Trust’s founder, Ross Aitken, was
the man with a long held vision of
reinstating Dawe’s Twineworks, which
dates back to the 19th Century and is
believed to be the most complete
surviving example of a rural rope works
in the country. He has committed
support from the whole of the village,
which was very evident on the open day.
Former workers’ memories and advice are
being digitally recorded, both for
giving knowledge of how the works
operated and for future generations to
understand how the whole community was
involved in the production of rope,
twine and sail.
An informative exhibition of
display boards, reports and photographs
gave greater understanding of the
importance of the industry, not only to
the villagers but to our nation’s
sailing and warships; the most notable
being Nelson’s navy ships. (The
renowned Coker Canvas equipped HMS
Victory at Trafalgar.) We learned how
flax and hemp had been grown extensively
in Somerset and processed in the fields
around the village.
