Welcome to your audio tour of The Golden Hinde. As you explore the ship, you’ll come across blue plaques, just like the one in front of you. Scan the QR codes to find out about the ship’s history and get a sense of what life was like onboard a 16th century galleon. You can scan the codes in any order you like, but don’t forget to open unlocked chests to discover what’s inside. If you have any questions about anything you hear, or want to find out more, please don’t hesitate to ask a member of our team.
The original Golden Hinde set sail over 400 years ago, on a cold November morning in 1577. It was the flagship of a small fleet of five vessels under the leadership of Francis Drake: an already infamous English corsair. Drake had been a seafarer from a young age. He served on merchant ships in the English Channel before joining his cousin, John Hawkins, on the first English slave trading voyages. These voyages brought him into conflict with the Spanish and soon after he began his career as a pirate, attacking and raiding Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and Central America.
His successes earned him the support of powerful men and women in England, including Queen Elizabeth I. Drake presented them with a plan which had long tempted English treasure seekers – rather than attack the Caribbean, he would make the dangerous voyage around the southern tip of the Americas to explore and raid the Pacific coast, hopefully discovering new trade routes for England. Elizabeth and other members of the court sponsored him to build The Hinde and its accompanying fleet with the hope that they would receive a share of the treasure on Drake’s return.
The voyage took Drake and The Hinde further than anyone imagined. In 1580 he returned to England as captain of the first English ship to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. In the ship’s hold was a vast amount of silver, gold and other valuable goods with a worth of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Almost nothing now remains of the original Golden Hinde, which had succumbed to rot by the mid 1600s. The ship you are currently standing on is a full reconstruction, built and launched in the early 1970s. However, it has also circumnavigated the globe and completed many long-distance voyages. In total, it has sailed over 100,000 miles, serving as a visitor attraction, events space and film set all over the world before being welcomed into its current home in 1996.
You are standing on the main deck. This deck would have been an important meeting space for a 16th century crew, and the mainmast would have served as a centre point for the onboard community. Here, spoils would have been shared, punishments doled out, information disseminated, and religious services delivered by the ship’s chaplain. For some offences, crew members may have even been tied to the mast and made an example of.
In front of the mast is the main hatch, which could be opened to allow heavy goods to be passed between decks. The hatch grating also allowed light and air to reach the lower decks to improve the conditions for mariners living and working below.
Between the hatch and the mast is a pair of wooden knight’s heads, strong points designed to belay (or make fast) the lines from the mainsail yard. You’ll notice each knight’s head has a slot at the bottom containing a wooden sheave on an axle. This serves as the bottom half of a tackle which would have made lowering and raising the yard easier. Between each knight head is a pin-rail, with pins for tying-off lines. These pins could be removed for a quick release. Our knight’s heads are decorated with the faces of soldiers. At some point in the life of the restoration, a superstition emerged that touching these heads gives good luck. Before you move on, why don’t you give it a try?