Historic Delivery for The Horse Trust

The Horse Trust recently received an exciting delivery in the shape of two lifting boxes that were used in the First World War to transport horses onto the ships. These boxes were used at the Tilbury docks from November 1914 when the dock opened.

During World War One, a military pontoon bridge existed between Tilbury and Gravesend. The bridge was required to allow the movement of troops, equipment and horses down to the south coast without going through London.

The two lifting boxes that arrived to the Trust measured 8ft long by 4ft wide with a height of 7 feet both of a pale green colour. The have entry and exit doors on both sides. The insides of the boxes have remnants of where the padding would have been using materials such as straw to restrict the horse’s movement and to avoid injury to the horse whilst the box was being lifted onto the ship.

These amazing pieces of history were sold by Ant Reeve an architectural salvage pioneer who buys and sells extraordinary finds. Ant is the Managing Director and part owner of LASSCO (The London Architectural Salvage and Supply Company) has a forty year history of salvaging architectural details and curiosities from extraordinary buildings – both celebrated and forgotten. They sell to a worldwide clientele and currently have in stock 180tons of ironwork from Westminster Bridge, carved stone from The Palace of Westminster and Glass cabinets from the National Maritime Museum. Their shop near Oxford has a large yard full of amazing finds – from the useful to the bizarre as well as a coffee shop and restaurant. Please take a moment to visit his website.