Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal:William Farmer The Steering Com…

Images(2)

Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal:William Farmer The Steering Compass

AssociatedAssociated with Lord Mountbatten of Burma (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)

Medallist John Pinches, Medallists

DateMay 2004

Object NameMedal

MediumSterling Silver

ClassificationsMedals

Dimensions44mm

AcquisitionPresented in 2004 by Dr Joan M Burrell.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS072500.21

Keywords

About MeThe north pointing magnetic compass is known to have been in use in Northern European waters shortly before 1200 A.D., for it was described by the English monk Alexander Neckham in his De Naturis Rerum of c.1187.

The primitive early compasses consisting of a soft iron needle, first magnetised by a lodestone and floated on a straw in a bowl of water, are thought to have developed by about 1300 into the type represented by William Farmer's compass. That is, a card marked with the points of the compass mounted on a magnetised soft iron needle which was in turn pivoted on a sharp spike in a glazed wooden box or bowl. The retentive power of the soft iron needle was such that seamen always carried a small piece of lodestone, often ornately mounted to 'retouch' or remagnetise the needle and make it effective again.

It was with compasses of this type that Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world, the Pilgrim Fathers found their way to New England, and the Nonsuch opened up the trade to Hudson Bay.

Latter developments of uncertain date were gimbals that allowed the compass to remain horizontal as the ship rolled in a seaway, and a protective house or binnacle consisting of a glass-fronted cupboard placed near the helmsman's line of sight.

Very little change was made to the notoriously inefficient compass until Dr Gowin Knight's experiments with artificial magnets, in the mid 18th century, led to improved magnetised steel needles that retained their magnetism, and better constructed mountings and compass bowls.

William Farmer made his compass in about 1750 and it is fashioned in the unsophisticated medieval tradition with the card pivoted on a crude iron spike within a glazed, turned wooden bowl painted in yellow and dark green. The card is engraved and coloured in gold, red and yellow. The cardinal and half cardinal points other than north, which is marked by a fleur-de-lys, are indicated by emblematical figures of the planets. The east point is decorated to honour the Holy Land and the centre portion of the card carries a representation of a full-rigged ship surrounded by the inscription 'Made by William Farmer near the Limekiln Horsley Down.'

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.