Deal

This watercolour view of Deal, Kent, was intended to be published in the print series 'The Ports of England'. The project was abandoned before this view was printed.

There was no established harbour at Deal. Instead boats would anchor off the coast and smaller boats, known as ‘luggers’, would ferry their cargo to shore. The crew of these ‘luggers’ also operated as ‘speculative salvagers’ who would exploit ships caught in bad weather. The intentions of the ‘lugger’ in the foreground here are unclear.