Kingswear Castle Returns Home

The Steamship paddle steamer Kingswear Castle has returned to her home river after running summer trips on the River Medway. She was built by Philip & Sons in 1924 at their Noss Yard, Kingswear for use by the Great Western Railway with her sister ships the Compton Castle and the Totnes Castle. She was chartered to the United States during World War II and used for carrying stores and personnel on the Dart.

She was withdrawn from service in 1965 to become the first purchase of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society which brought her back into service after a great deal of restoration.

In 1986 she won the National Steam Heritage Award and in 1995 won first in the Scania Transport Trust Awards. In 1999 she was included on the national Historic Ships Committee Core Collection list of ship of Pre- eminent National Significance and has been in much demand for television and other filming including BBC production of Great Expectations. She also had many famous visitors over the years including Sir Harry Secombe, Pierce Brosnan and Prince Edward.

Length 113.75 ft. (34.67 m) LOA, Beam 17.43ft (5.31 m); Draught 3.43ft (1.05 m)