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  1. 1 Manx National Heritage calls the Peggy the oldest surviving schooner in the world. MNH Q&A, 2022
  2. 2 She is also the last intact surviving shallop, a type of small open boat. MNH Q&A, 2022
  3. 3 She is the oldest surviving vessel known to have been fitted with sliding keels, an early form of dagger board. MNH Q&A, 2022
  4. 4 Unusually, she survives nearly complete and unrestored, and her masts and spars survived with her. MNH Q&A, 2022
  5. 5 Although the Isle of Man is not part of the UK, she is listed in the UK’s National Historic Fleet. MNH Q&A, 2022
  6. 6 There are around 200 vessels in the National Historic Fleet. MNH Q&A, 2022
  7. 7 Being under 33 feet long, she sits on the National Small Boat Register, but is kept in the National Historic Fleet because she meets every other test. National Historic Ships UK
  8. 8 Manx National Heritage calls her the oldest surviving Manx vessel and a rare example of 18th-century boatbuilding. Manx National Heritage, facility
  9. 9 Over 95% of her structure is still intact. Manx National Heritage, facility
  10. 10 The Nautical Museum page calls her one of the oldest surviving pleasure yachts in the world. Manx National Heritage, museum
  11. 11 Manx National Heritage’s 2021 statement calls her the best-preserved eighteenth-century sailing vessel in the world. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  12. 12 It also says she is really two boats in one: her 1802 form laid over the original of 1789. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  13. 13 The same statement compares her, as an experimental racing yacht, with today’s land and water speed record attempts. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  14. 14 Manx National Heritage counts her among the most precious objects in the Island’s National Collections. MNH FAQs, 2024
  15. 15 She is clinker-built, with overlapping planks, and open, with sawn frames. National Historic Ships UK
  16. 16 She began as a small working-boat shape with six oar holes, schooner rigged with a bowsprit. National Historic Ships UK
  17. 17 She is 26 feet 5 inches long overall, with a beam of 7 feet 8 inches and an inside depth of 6 feet. castletown.org.im
  18. 18 Her Admiralty licence of 1793 describes her as of 6.5 tons burthen. castletown.org.im
  19. 19 Her main planking is pine, between 6 and 8 inches wide and 7/8 inch thick. castletown.org.im
  20. 20 The rubbing strakes on the top three planks seem to be teak, like the moulding on the transom. castletown.org.im
  21. 21 Her ribs and floors are oak, and the hull is held with heavy iron bolts. castletown.org.im
  22. 22 Her rig seems to have been a gaff mainsail, a gaff foresail and a jib. castletown.org.im
  23. 23 She is about the size of the Bounty’s launch, in which Captain Bligh made his 4,000-mile voyage, but with much sleeker lines. castletown.org.im
  24. 24 Craft like her were carried by Captain Cook’s ships Resolution and Adventure. National Historic Ships UK
  25. 25 Boats of her shape were used in Manx waters, the Irish Sea, and on the American coast north of Boston. National Historic Ships UK
  26. 26 She was a little narrow for her length, with low sides, so she was rather wet to sail. National Historic Ships UK
  27. 28 Quayle commissioned her for pleasure, with novel changes for speed. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  28. 29 She carries eight small cannon: six a foot long, three a side, and two slightly longer as stern chasers. National Historic Ships UK
  29. 30 Her 1793 licence lists six small swivels and six fowling pieces. castletown.org.im
  30. 31 When she was built, war with France was coming again, and privateers haunted the seas round the Island. castletown.org.im
  31. 32 Her painted transom survives, with a decorative motif and the words George Quayle Castletown. castletown.org.im
  32. 33 Underneath, an earlier scheme shows the name PEGGY in gilt on green. castletown.org.im
  33. 34 She had three sliding keels fitted through her keel, forerunners of the centreboard. National Historic Ships UK
  34. 35 A 1791 letter from Quayle’s brother Thomas describes meeting the sliding keel’s inventor, Captain (later Admiral) Shank. National Historic Ships UK
  35. 36 Shank may have used her as an experimental craft for his design. National Historic Ships UK
  36. 37 Her present keel is a replacement, but the original, with its three slots, survives. National Historic Ships UK
  37. 38 The sliding keels were taken out in the 1802 renovation. National Historic Ships UK
  38. 39 They made her much more manoeuvrable, and the slots can still be seen. castletown.org.im
  39. 40 Manx National Heritage’s 2021 statement calls her the earliest known and only surviving boat with sliding keels, a technology now everywhere. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  40. 41 Manx National Heritage says George Quayle lived in Castletown from his birth in 1757 to his death in 1835. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  41. 42 National Historic Ships UK gives his dates as 1751 to 1835. National Historic Ships UK
  42. 43 He sat in the House of Keys, the Manx parliament’s elected house, for 51 years. National Historic Ships UK
  43. 44 He was a founding partner of an early Manx bank, George Quayle & Co., run from Bridge House. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  44. 45 During the wars with France from 1793 he was an officer in Manx forces raised to defend the Island. National Historic Ships UK
  45. 46 He was an enthusiastic inventor and traveller. National Historic Ships UK
  46. 47 He was the eldest of thirteen children, nine of whom survived childhood. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  47. 48 He spoke fluent Italian, played music, and loved wordplay and sketching. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  48. 49 Manx National Heritage calls him the most documented Manxman of the 18th century. Manx National Heritage, museum
  49. 50 Four Quayle men held the office of Clerk of the Rolls at Castle Rushen: his grandfather, father, brother and nephew. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  50. 51 Manx National Heritage notes that he was a businessman and politician during the Napoleonic Wars and at the height of the transatlantic slave trade. Manx National Heritage, museum
  51. 52 The Quayle family’s papers, thousands of documents, are in the Manx Museum. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  52. 53 They even record the colours of his phaeton carriage and his favourite inn in London. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  53. 54 His hat from the Manx Fencibles, worn as a captain, survives. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  54. 55 She was built locally in 1789, together with her own dock and boathouse. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  55. 56 National Historic Ships UK names her builder as T. Kelly of Castletown. National Historic Ships UK
  56. 57 She was one of three similar boats built for the Quayle family between 1789 and 1793. National Historic Ships UK
  57. 58 Two were named Peggy, one called the ‘new Peggy’, and the third was Neptune, which is why it was unclear which one survives. National Historic Ships UK
  58. 59 In 1967 Dr Basil Greenhill, then Director of the National Maritime Museum, concluded that the surviving Peggy was the one built in 1791. National Historic Ships UK
  59. 60 The land beside Bridge House was bought specially for running a sailing boat, and the boathouse and private dock were built to suit the Peggy. MNH FAQs, 2024
  60. 61 In 1796 she went to a regatta on Lake Windermere and raced there. National Historic Ships UK
  61. 62 To reach the lake she was taken overland from below Ulverston to Newby Bridge. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  62. 63 She may have raced against the yacht Margaret, now shown at Windermere Jetty. National Historic Ships UK
  63. 64 Quayle wrote that her long bowsprit and sliding keels had already caused a ‘scisme’, a split, among the lake’s freshwater sailors. castletown.org.im
  64. 65 He added that Captain Heywood’s boat was the second best on the lake, and modesty stopped him saying which was first. castletown.org.im
  65. 66 Coming home in very rough weather, with tide and gale against him, he thought about running for Liverpool or Wales. castletown.org.im
  66. 67 Instead they put down the sliding keels, which let them keep going and reach Castletown Bay. castletown.org.im
  67. 68 He wrote that without the quarter cloths they would have gone to Davy Jones’s locker, and without the sliding keels they could not have carried enough sail. castletown.org.im
  68. 69 She also went to Liverpool on family business, sometimes with passengers and cargo, once carrying a phaeton. National Historic Ships UK
  69. 70 National Historic Ships UK says she even smuggled French brandy. National Historic Ships UK
  70. 71 But it doubts how much cargo she could carry: the gear for three sliding keels would leave little room. National Historic Ships UK
  71. 72 Early on she was heavily altered: a new strake and gunwale raised her sides, the six oar ports were plugged and the thwarts moved higher. National Historic Ships UK
  72. 73 National Historic Ships UK dates those alterations to 1802. National Historic Ships UK
  73. 74 Her transom was raised too, yet the letters PEGGY still show on the old paint, matching the earlier, shallower transom. National Historic Ships UK
  74. 75 The changes turned a light, fast rowing boat into a heavier sailing one. National Historic Ships UK
  75. 76 The extra strake spoiled her looks a little but probably made her more seaworthy. National Historic Ships UK
  76. 77 Manx National Heritage’s 2021 statement says she was laid up in her boathouse around 1810 to 1815. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  77. 78 National Historic Ships UK’s key dates say that when Quayle died in 1835 she was of little interest to the family and was hauled up into her cellar. National Historic Ships UK
  78. 79 The same list says she was walled in with solid masonry in 1851 and forgotten. National Historic Ships UK
  79. 80 At some point the opening she used to reach the harbour was walled up and the ground filled in, cutting her off from the sea. castletown.org.im
  80. 81 The conservation facility page says she spent over 200 years in her original boathouse. Manx National Heritage, facility
  81. 82 She was found in 1935 in a walled-up cellar in Castletown, where she had lain for more than 150 years. National Historic Ships UK
  82. 83 The key dates on the same page put her rediscovery in 1941, ‘still with cargo on deck which included French brandy’. National Historic Ships UK
  83. 84 Naval architect P.J. Oke surveyed her and drew her plans for the Society for Nautical Research. National Historic Ships UK
  84. 85 Her plans and photographs were shown at the Science Museum in South Kensington. castletown.org.im
  85. 86 When Bridge House was sold in 1941, the Peggy and her boathouse were given to the Manx Museum. National Historic Ships UK
  86. 87 Manx National Heritage’s 2021 statement says the boathouse and the Peggy were bequeathed to the Manx nation in June 1942. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  87. 88 Only her keel, stern post and two planks, damaged where she lay on her starboard side, needed replacing. castletown.org.im
  88. 89 The repairs could not start until 1950. castletown.org.im
  89. 90 National Historic Ships UK puts that repair in the late 1940s, by local craftsmen. National Historic Ships UK
  90. 91 The Nautical Museum opened to the public in 1951, with the Peggy in a support cradle. National Historic Ships UK
  91. 92 The museum has a scale model of the Peggy made by John Gawne of Fistard in 1949. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  92. 93 The museum is Quayle’s 18th-century private dock and boathouse, overlooking Castletown harbour. Manx National Heritage, museum
  93. 94 For more than 200 years it was home to the Peggy. Manx National Heritage, museum
  94. 96 You can sit in a room made like the cabin of a naval warship, with secret doors and panels. Manx National Heritage, museum
  95. 97 Upstairs is a sailmaker’s loft with the tools of the trade. Manx National Heritage, museum
  96. 98 Manx National Heritage calls the boathouse eccentric: it still puzzles architectural historians. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  97. 99 Excavations found the dock built for her and the remains of a complex dock gate. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  98. 100 Manx National Heritage says the dock parallels canal and dock engineering in the UK but comes before much of it. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  99. 101 Conserving the Peggy is the largest project Manx National Heritage has ever taken on. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  100. 102 Work began in 2009 because of rising high tides in Castletown and signs of decay. MNH statement of significance, 2021
  101. 103 In 2013 a new steel cradle was made using a 3D laser survey of the hull. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  102. 104 In 2014 archaeologists dug out the way for her removal and found her original dock. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  103. 105 In January 2015 she was lifted and taken to a dedicated conservation facility. Manx National Heritage, conservation
  104. 106 She was moved to protect her from decay caused by high humidity and from tidal flooding. MNH FAQs, 2024
  105. 107 In the facility the humidity was slowly lowered to 55%, bringing her timbers to 14% moisture. MNH FAQs, 2024
  106. 108 Since 2015 her timbers, fixings, paint and rig have been surveyed and analysed. MNH FAQs, 2024
  107. 109 Behind-the-scenes tours of the facility run at Cooil Smithy on the Isle of Man Business Park. Manx National Heritage, museum
  108. 110 Manx National Heritage is committed to bringing her back to Castletown, at the heart of a rebuilt Nautical Museum. MNH FAQs, 2024
  109. 111 The plans include a new boat hall where she would be shown fully rigged. MNH FAQs, 2024
  110. 112 In September 2025 the plans were put on hold after a funding bid failed. Manx.News, 2025
  111. 113 Isle of Man Today reported that only a third of the money needed had been raised. Isle of Man Today, 2025
  112. 114 The Enterprise Minister said Manx National Heritage remained fully committed, subject to funding. Isle of Man Today, 2025
  113. 115 The Nautical Museum is on Bridge Street, Castletown, IM9 1AX. Manx National Heritage, museum
  114. 116 It is visited as part of the Castletown Heritage Tour. Manx National Heritage, museum
  115. 117 When we checked in November 2026, the museum page said it reopens in March 2027. Manx National Heritage, museum
  116. 118 The facility page said its tours start again in March 2027. Manx National Heritage, facility
  117. 119 Castletown has a stop on the Isle of Man Steam Railway, and several bus routes. Manx National Heritage, museum