ROPE: HISTORY’S

UNSUNG HERO
By Jordan Ecker, Museum Educator

History is sometimes thought of as a positive progression. Each generation should live a better and/
or easier life than the one that came before. This interpretation can be tracked by the numerous
advancements, innovations, and inventions that have been recorded in history books since the
beginning of recorded history. Life has changed significantly in the past few thousand years, but
there is one relic of that past that has survived all the changes and improvements of humanity
– rope. Rope has been with us since at least 4000 BCE. Rope, it could be argued, is one of the
most important developments in human civilization, and that without it, humanity might not have
accomplished as much as it has. Let’s take a brief look at the history of rope, how it is made, and the
importance of this much overlooked historical innovation.
Rope has been with us since the dawn of
recorded history. There is no way to precisely
date when rope was developed. The most
commonly held theory is that the oldest “rope”
were vines ancient peoples tied to heavy things
to pull them. Ancient Egyptians have the first
recorded use of specialized rope tools sometime
between 4000 – 3500 BCE. Egyptian rope was
typically made out of water reed fibers, and this
was the rope that they used to haul the large
Egyptian hieroglyphs describing the rope making process, limestone and granite blocks to construct the
Photo credit: public domain. Great Pyramids of Giza.
Modern rope and rope construction dates
back to the Middle Ages (476 CE – 15th
Century), and coincides with the rise of
larger sailing vessels going farther and
farther distances. This rope is made out of
hemp, manila, and sisal, and was constructed
outside in long straight lines to create the long
lengths of rope needed to operate the vessels
going to sea. Ropemaking came to America
in 1641 when the first ropemaker arrived in
An image of a 15th century German ropemaker, Massachusetts.
Photo credit: public domain.
Not all rope in the 19th century was made in a
ropewalk. Some rope was still made by hand.
The rope made by hand was basically the same
process as the rope made in a ropewalk, except
on a smaller scale. The yarn of sisal, hemp,
or manila basically became the strand, and
was connected to the rope jack instead of a
foreturn machine. The other end was attached
to the loper, which someone held against their
stomach and allowed to freely turn. Instead
A turning rope jack to create rope,
of the strands going through a laying truck,
Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org, CC by 2.5 AU a laying top was inserted between the yarn/
strands strung between the rope jack and
loper. Someone turned the handle of the rope jack counterclockwise, which made the yarn/strands
spin together. When the person holding the loper felt the yarn/strands pulling them forward, the
person holding the laying top started walking forward, and behind them the rope came together. In
order for the rope to stay twisted, one end of the rope needed to be tied together so the strands did
not unravel.
As this brief look at the history and production of rope illustrates, rope is probably one of the most
important human innovations. Rope made life possible before the advent of electricity, indoor
plumbing, and cars. Without it, sailing vessels would have stayed in port, horses would not have been
hitched to wagons, and pulleys would not be able to provide mechanical advantage to hoist heavy
items. On a smaller scale, it would have been harder to fetch water without the ropes attached to
buckets threaded through pulleys. Even children’s play would be affected. They would not be able
to swing on swings or test their agility by jumping rope. Without rope, life would have been harder
and looked very different.
ROPE FUN FACTS!
Oldest Ropewalk still in use – The Chatham Dockyard Ropery in Chatham, England. The current
building was constructed in 1790.
Oldest and longest ropewalk still standing – La Corderie Royale (The Royal Ropewalk) in Roquefort,
France. It was built by order of King Louis XIV in 1666, and used until 1867. It is 374 meters (1,227
feet) long.

By the beginning of the 18th century, long, narrow buildings were constructed to house rope The oldest evidence of rope was found in
manufacturing. These factories, called ropewalks, needed to be long so they could produce long Lascaux, France. It was an impression of rope
lengths of rope. Ropewalks housed the entire process from spinning the natural fibers into yarn in clay that is over 28,000 years old!
to twisting a great quantity of those yarns into rope. These buildings were typically constructed
out of wood, which made them fire hazards, and they often burned. Major cities, such as Boston, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882),
had a large quantity of ropewalks to support the bustling ship industry. By 1794, Boston had author of The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,
14 ropewalks, and one of those ropewalks caught fire that same year. By the time the fire was wrote a poem about ropemaking. Simply titled
contained, a total of 96 buildings were lost, including 5 ropewalks. “The Ropewalk,” it was published in a collection
of Longfellow’s poems, Birds of Passage, Flight
the First, in 1858.
At Mystic Seaport Museum, we are A side view of La Corderie Royale in Rochefort, France.
Photo credit: Patrick Despoix, CC BY-SA 3.0
lucky enough to have a portion of one of
these wooden ropewalks. The Plymouth
ROPEMAKING DEFINITIONS
Cordage Company operated in Plymouth,
In this article, you are going to unfamiliar terms used to describe the ropemaking process. When
Massachusetts from 1824-1965, and made
you find one (they are bolded), refer to this table for the definition.
rope by hand until the 1890s in our ropewalk.
While the original building was over 1,000 Foreturn machine – a machine with three or more hooks that the rope strands are attached. When
feet long, our portion is only 250 feet long. operating, the machine will spin the hooks so that the strands spin and tighten.

Heckle – A piece of wood with long nails sticking out of it. Used to straighten planet fibers used in
A side view of La Corderie Royale in Rochefort, France.
Photo credit: Patrick Despoix, CC BY-SA 3.0 the making of rope.

Laying top – A piece of wood with a handle that has at least three grooves in it. It is inserted
The process to make rope basically did not change from the 18th century to the 20th century.
between the strands of rope after they have been strung between the rope jack and the loper,
It began by straightening out the plant fiber by combing it with a heckle. Once straightened, an
and keeps the strands separated until it is time to become rope. When the loper alerts the person
employee of the ropewalk fed the fiber to the spinning wheel to spin it into yarn, and that yarn was
holding the laying top that it is time to form the rope, they start walking forward while another
spooled around a bobbin. Once around the bobbin, the yarns were twisted together into a strand.
person continues spinning the rope jack to create rope.
At the Plymouth Cordage Company, almost 100 bobbins of yarn were twisted together by the
forming machine to create one strand. Three strands were then tied to the Foreturn machine, and
Laying truck – a machine on wheels that the strands attached to the foreturn machine are threaded
fed through the laying truck’s cone with three notches for those strands to lie in. This separated
through to keep them separated until they are ready to become rope. A person rides the laying
the strands while the foreturn machine twisted them so they could not come together until the
truck towards the foreturn machine to create the rope.
rope maker wanted. While the foreturn machine ran, someone rode the laying truck from one end
of the ropewalk to the other. As the laying truck moved forward, the previously three separate Loper – An iron tool used to make rope. It has a triangular handle with a long hook through it. A
strands became one rope. In this manner, the Plymouth Cordage Company employees could make, person holds the loper while the strands of rope are wrapped between its hook and the hooks of
in the full size building, a rope up to 600 feet long. the rope jack. The person holding the loper can feel the strands tightening, and alerts the person
holding the laying top that it is time to form rope.

To learn how Mystic Seaport’s educational programs meet the
Common Core standards and the CT Social Studies Frameworks,
please see
https://www.mysticseaport.org/learn/k-12-programs/common-core/
Rope Jack – A machine that has gears, a handle, and four long hooks. The yarn/strands being used
to make rope is threaded between the loper and at least three of the hooks one hook at a time (hook
1 to loper, loper to hook 2, hook 2 to loper, loper to hook 3, hook 3 to loper, loper to hook 1). Once
strung, a person turns the handle counter-clockwise, which causes the hooks to spin, and the yarn/
strands attached to the hooks to spin, creating the strands that make up the rope.