Where the Barges Were Built
Dapdune Wharf sits on the River Wey Navigation in the centre of Guildford, a short walk from the High Street. The Stevens family established the boatyard here in the 1890s, and over the following decades it became the main construction and repair yard for the Wey barges – heavy, flat-bottomed vessels that carried timber, flour, and gunpowder between Guildford and London.
Eleven barges were built at Dapdune. The most famous survivor is Reliance, an oak barge built by William Stevens & Sons in the early 1930s. She worked the navigation until 1968, when she collided with Cannon Street Bridge in London and sank. Abandoned for 21 years, she was eventually found at Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, recovered, and restored over six months. Today Reliance sits at Dapdune and visitors can climb aboard.
The Wey Navigation Story
The River Wey Navigation was one of England's earliest canal projects, engineered by Sir Richard Weston and opened in 1653 with 12 locks between Weybridge and Guildford. The Godalming extension followed in 1764, adding four more locks and extending the navigable route to 20 miles. Commercial traffic continued into the 1980s – remarkably late for an English inland waterway.
The National Trust acquired the Wey Navigation in 1964 and the Godalming section in 1968. Dapdune Wharf now serves as the visitor centre for the whole waterway, with exhibitions on the history of the navigation, the people who worked it, and the wildlife that has colonised the towpath. The wharf offers a starting point for walks along the river in both directions.
