AFTER 10 long years soaking in sugar, Poole's prehistoric logboat has finally emerged into the light of day.

Coated in crystallised sugar and dead wasps, the "candyfloss" boat is nevertheless a relic of national importance.

One of the largest surviving logboats, dating to around 300 BC, it is also the first large wooden artefact in this country to be preserved by this method.

Discovered off Brownsea Island in 1964, the 10-metre long boat, now split into two, seven metre-long sections, has lain in a tank at the council's Hatch Pond depot, soaking up a sugar solution.

The UK's leading wood conservator and head of conservation at York Archaeological Trust, Jim Spriggs and Jeremy Hutchings, associate professor at Oslo University, were on hand to oversee the sections craned out of the tank and steam cleaned.

"This is a very innovative approach to the conservation," said Mr Spriggs.

Mr Hutchings said: "It is very interesting to see if you can preserve large pieces of wood using low tech applications and methods."

The sugar solution replaces the water in the wood, although around 30 per cent of the water remains.

As the boat is slowly dried out in an insulated, warm room at Scaplens Court Museum over the next year, the sugar should replace the remaining water.

"At the end of the whole process we will get something the same weight as it was when it was floating around Poole Harbour 2,000 plus years ago," said Mr Spriggs.

Keith Jarvis, of Poole Museum's Service, said the original intention was to soak the boat for three to five years but they had run out of money to move on to this stage until receiving a lottery grant.

"We now think the logboat is related to the nationally important Iron Age jetties and continental trade taking place on Green Island," he said.

After the boat has dried out the intention is to put it on display at the Waterfront Museum, whose new glass front is being funded as part of the lottery project.

First published: May 26