Industrial And Transport

Reviving Narrowboat Kilsby – A Jericho Living Heritage Project Community-led restoration and repurposing of a rare historic canal boat

The Kilsby Boat Project is a Jericho Living Heritage Trust (JLHT) initiative restoring and repurposing KILSBY, a rare 112-year-old Fellows, Morton and Clayton (FMC) horse-drawn narrow boat. Urgent capital works include reinstatement of the Boatman’s Cabin, Stern and Elum, and access and cargo-hold adaptations in preparation for future activities and trips. Kilsby will be a tangible heritage asset that people can climb aboard, journey on and immerse themselves in the oft-overlooked industrial heritage and environment of the Oxford Canal. Volunteers will be involved throughout: project leadership, communications, research, hands-on, learning about life and livelihoods on the Oxford Canal. They will document Kilsby’s re-building, gaining an understanding of the practical, environmental, and heritage considerations at play when salvaging, sympathetically restoring, and transforming an historic boat for community use. This will be shared at events, via social media and JLHT’s website with the Pilot Activity Programme serving to refine Kilsby’s future programme.