Governors of New College, part of the University of Oxford, discussed an offer on Wednesday 21 October to buy back the college's former rowing barge for £290,000. The college confirmed to the BBC that it would give former barge resident Julius Just, who put forward the proposal, a decision "shortly".
The barge is now moored near Weybridge in Surrey. It is one of six former Oxford college barges still afloat, most of them privately owned. Just wants it back on the Isis, ideally close to the New College boathouse.
"Imagine the barge moored close to the College boathouse, welcoming former students, visiting academics, members of the Boat Club and guests," he told the BBC.
Concrete under the carving
The BBC dates the barge to 1901 and reports that it was rebuilt with a concrete hull in 1927. Its earlier history is less clear: Sarah Hosking's 1969 manuscript, The Oxford College Barges — The Growth & Decay of a Tradition, reproduced by the Oxford College Barges Preservation Trust suggests that the rotten hull of a Salter's-built barge was replaced, with its ornate superstructure and railings retained. A new boathouse had made the barge redundant by the early 1950s, and it was sold and towed to London in the 1960s. Just lived aboard at Chelsea from 1992 to 2001.
Salter's began as a racing-boat builder at Oxford's Folly Bridge in 1858, founded by brothers John and Stephen Salter. The firm later expanded into Thames passenger services, launching an Oxford–Kingston steamer route in 1888. Now known as Salter's Steamers, it remains in family ownership.
Hosking was a 25-year-old art teacher when she founded the preservation trust with a group of undergraduates in 1966. Her aim was to acquire, restore and preserve Oxford's barges. Her 1969 manuscript examined their history and architecture.
David Thomas, a trustee of the preservation trust, told the BBC that colleges built barges because "the colleges wanted boathouses for their rowers, but they weren't able to build on land".
"So they all set about building their own barges, which are basically club houses."
The barges served as changing rooms, common rooms and viewing decks, and up to 26 lined Christ Church Meadow in 1930. Larger squads and better-equipped boathouses ended that era. "After a hundred years they've all gradually fallen away, sunk, or just fallen into disrepair," Thomas said. New College's, he added, was "quite an innovative design, so it's probably in quite good nick."
Where to park it
The proposal, reported by the Oxford Mail, would provide a place for receptions, offer hospitality to the boat club and accommodate visiting alumni. Whether this could happen depends on the barge’s condition, the restoration needed and relevant permissions; utilities and waste handling would also have to be considered.
Until an Oxford berth is found, it could stay at D'Oyly Carte Island for £890 a month or move to Hampton Court for £500. Oxford moorings are scarce: the restored St Edmund Hall barge, Eddy, was still hunting for a secure winter berth last month.
Just said his approach "is not intended to place undue pressure on the College or its Governing Body", and that he hoped instead for "a constructive discussion about an opportunity that may not come again."
