Decorated stem chock from a Humber keel, 1900s

This is a decorated stem chock from a Humber keel. The stem was on the front, or bow, of the boat. Humber keels were distinctive vessels with square sails. They could be seen shipping goods inland until the 1920s and followed the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire waterways. The Humber keel is known as the classic Humber sailing barge, with a tradition stretching back to the medieval period. They were the last working vessels using sails in the region but after the 1920s most became motorised.