Picturesque Goring Gap Boathouse Listed
A Victorian boathouse in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire has been listed at Grade II by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England, in recognition of its historic and architectural interest.
The boathouse was built in around 1894 for Samuel Saunders, a pioneering boatbuilder and engineer.
It is a rare surviving example of a late Victorian commercial boathouse on the non-tidal River Thames.
Still a prominent building facing the riverside and High Street, it has been converted over time with one part currently home to a dental practice.
Saunders commissioned the boathouse to capitalise on the growing popularity of this beautiful stretch of the Thames since the arrival of the railway in the 1840s. Goring and Streatley were described as “charming places to stay” in the classic book Three Men in a Boat (1889) by Jerome K Jerome.
The annual regatta drew large crowds and there was a boom in leisure boating.
Saunders’ boathouse was designed to showcase his business to this growing audience. He offered boat building services and craft for hire. The boathouse included the riverside wharf, a showroom facing the High Street, and on-site manager’s flat.
The architect of the boathouse was Percy Goddard Stone, who designed several other buildings for the village including his own house (now demolished). He is best known for his work on the Isle of Wight, including rebuilding the chapel at Carisbrooke Castle.
The boathouse forms a historically important group with other Grade II listed buildings nearby, Goring Mill and the Goring Paddle and Rymer Weir.
The boathouse is a picturesque part of Goring-on-Thames and a prominent local landmark. Its listing celebrates the building’s design and its origin as the early business premises of Samuel Saunders who became one of England’s leading boatbuilders and engineers.
The boathouse has had many lives since Saunders’ day - Goring locals may remember the showroom was once leased to WHSmith and then to the Royal Mail when it was used as a sorting office. We’d love to hear your memories of this slice of Goring’s history via the Missing Pieces Project.
Samuel Edgar Saunders (1859 to 1933) was an entrepreneur, engineer and boatbuilder.
Whilst at Goring he developed and patented a new experimental method for boat building called ‘Consuta’ (meaning ‘sewn together’ in Latin). The Consuta construction method interleaved thin layers of wood with a waterproofing material all stitched together with copper wire. This helped create a lightweight but tough hull that allowed for higher speeds, an improvement on the heavy solid wood frame alternatives.
In 1898, he built the steam launch Consuta with this technology as an umpiring boat for the Henley Royal Regatta. Consuta was later used for many years by the BBC for live TV commentary of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It is preserved by the Consuta Trust.
Saunders expanded his business, and the use of Consuta, in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. His company went on to develop ever faster and lighter powerboats, flying boats and aircraft. Sir Edwin Alliott Veron Roe, aircraft designer and manufacturer, invested in Saunders’ company in 1928 and it became Saunders Roe or Saro. Saunders Roe is associated with famous designs including Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird K3 speedboat.
An Oxfordshire Blue Plaque was added to Saunders’ Boathouse in 2013 to celebrate his achievements.
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