Publications

 

Baker, Gary Paul and Lambert, Craig (2024) ‘William Fowler’, Sir William Garrard, Sir John Hawkins and the sixteenth-century Atlantic slave trade. English Historical Review (doi:10.1093/ehr/cead213).

Gary Baker, Craig Lambert, Lucy Huggins and John McAleer, ‘The Merchant Fleet and Maritime Communities of Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset, c.1565-c.1630’, Southern History, 46 (2024), pp. 58-72

Craig Lambert, John McAleer, Gary Baker and Lucy Huggins, ‘Shipping, Trade and Maritime communities: Case Studies of Suffolk, Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset, c.1565-c.1630’, The Local Historian, 55 (May 2025), pp. 98-116

Between Archaeology, History and the Marine: Investigating the Extent to Which Developing Ship Technologies Influenced Developments in English Mercantile Shipping, c.1450–1600

Author: Mark Hewitt
University: University of Southampton
Year: 2026

This undergraduate dissertation by Mark Hewitt, one of our project interns, was completed as part of a BA in Archaeology and History at the University of Southampton.

The study explores the relationship between developments in shipbuilding technology and the growth of English mercantile shipping between c.1450 and 1600. Drawing upon archaeological evidence from contemporary shipwrecks alongside voyage data from the Maritime Britain (formerly Medieval and Tudor Ships) database, the dissertation adopts an innovative interdisciplinary approach that combines maritime archaeology, historical research, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Using a series of case studies, including Bristol, London and Liverpool, the dissertation investigates whether technological developments such as carvel construction, changes in rigging, and the introduction of shipboard artillery were significant drivers of commercial expansion. Through the integration of archaeological and historical evidence, the study argues that technological developments facilitated maritime growth but were rarely the sole cause of the expansion of trade networks.

The dissertation is made available here as an example of undergraduate research undertaken using Maritime Britain data and demonstrates the value of combining archaeological and historical methodologies in the study of Britain's maritime past.

We are grateful to Mark Hewitt for granting permission for this dissertation to be made freely available through the Maritime Britain website. The views and conclusions expressed are those of the author.

Acknowledgement: Maritime Britain would like to thank Mark Hewitt for allowing this dissertation to be made freely available. The project is pleased to support undergraduate research that makes innovative use of maritime datasets and contributes to our understanding of Britain's maritime past.

You can download the paper here.