Sumara of Weymouth

Sunday 18th January 12:30

Reading Time: Three Minutes

I live in Rotherhithe on the borders of Deptford. The place oozes in maritime history. Hidden away between the Thames Path and the main road to Greenwich lies St Nicolas Church.

The unusual carvings on the entrance posts to the church are what is believed to be the original inspiration for the pirates’ Jolly Roger.

Deptford was once the home of the Royal Dockyards. Nearby were also many private shipyards and victualing yards. The map below shows how the church was positioned alongside this massive ship building and provisioning area.

It is therefore not surprising to learn that Captain Cook and Sir Francis Drake visited the church. Indeed Captain Morgan is also associated with the area which just adds weight to the story that these strange carvings at St Nicolas Church could have been the inspiration for the Jolly Roger.

Another visitor to St Nicolas was George Shelvocke who is commemorated with a memorial in the church. He was a Royal Navy Captain but turned into a privateer, a legalised pirate. He wrote a book describing how his Second Captain, Simon Hatley, shot an albatross while his ship, the Speedwell, was attempting to round Cape Horn in a severe storm.

This was the inspiration of the greatest poem ever written (in my opinion) Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Incidentally, talking about poets, Christopher Marlowe, is buried in the churchyard. He was stabbed through the eye in a nearby boarding house on Deptford Strand.

There are also some rather nice carvings of old shipwrights tools on the plinth of a memorial to John Addey (1550-1606) who was a Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard. Unlike wooden boatbuilders of today, he was a very wealthy man who left £200 to be invested for the poor. The Addey and Stanhope school still exists.

If you are inspired to visit the area don’t forget to visit The Dog and Bell, a very fine nearby tavern!

Whilst on the subject of Pirates, apparently the French pirates were very keen on a Barbeque (also spelt Barbecue).

I was once told of the Pirate origin of this strange word by a French friend. It may well not be true, but it is a very good story and I’m sticking with it.

I was told that the word came from the French pirates who were fond of barbequing a goat whilst in the Caribbean. They would spit roast the poor beast over a fire. I would post a picture but they look pretty gruesome and I wouldn’t want to scare the kids.

So the story is that the word is derived from the French for “beard to tail” or barbe à queue

I believe it, but you may not.

Enough pirate stories from Deptford!

If you fancy walking the Thames Path from London Bridge to Greenwich you could follow my Arctic themed route here