Boathouses have a story to tell, of invasion and response, of naval expedience, of taste and fashion, competition and industry. A new boathouse was essential to the successful establishment of Cambridge University Women's Rowing Team. They have been described as the 'new museums' in the architectural press, and as 'magical' in publicity for the Victorian boat house on the Thames near Marlow, the film setting for The Wind in the Willows. This book looks at boathouses from the earliest example in Roman Britain to the latest designs in the twenty-first century. It is a story of practicalities and ambitions, of industrial revolution and social change. Built on river banks and along the coast, in parkland and reservoirs, boathouses have provided protection for ferries and packet boats, royal barges and private steamers.This is the first history of boathouses in Britain, a book which looks at a familiar but often overlooked building.