A relic from the Elizabethan era: archaeologists report on a 450-year-old shipwreck that was discovered in a surprising place: in a gravel pit about 300 meters inland in southern England. Apparently the ship had found its final resting place there when the coastline was different than it is today. The wreck is one of the few testimonies of shipbuilding from the era when England decisively expanded its sea power, the experts say.
Normally, the workers of the company CEMEX only deal with gravel and sand in the open pit mine on the headland of Dungeness in Kent. But in April 2022, they came across something unusual: while dredging an area filled with water, they discovered the traces of an apparently historic wooden structure. To clarify the meaning of the find, they turned to the experts from the organizations Wessex Archeology and Historic England. In the course of the investigation, the team of archaeologists unearthed around 100 planks and beams made of oak. The finds were also captured through laser scanning and digital photography, and eventually assembled into a three-dimensional model of the entire object.
From Elizabethan times
This is how the remains of the hull of a ship that was probably about 25 meters long emerged. The features of the construction suggested that it was a Tudor-era construction. To find out more, the material was then subjected to a dendrochronological analysis. Signatures in the tree ring structures of the wood provide clues to the age and origin of the material. The results showed that the nave was built of English oak between 1558 and 1580. It was therefore a construction from the time of Queen Elizabeth I – the last ruler of the House of Tudor. The experts emphasize that only very few traces of this period, which was important for the history of shipping, have survived to this day.
While the exact identity of the ship has not been established, they say it represents a distinctive example of late 16th-century shipbuilding. “This was an unexpected and very welcome find. The ship can give us a glimpse of a time when major changes in seafaring and shipbuilding were taking place,” says Andrea Hamel of Wessex Archaeology. Because the find comes from a transitional period of construction in northern Europe, say the archaeologists.
Testimony to shipping history
According to the findings, the ship from Dungeness had already been manufactured using the so-called carvel construction method. At that time, it replaced the traditional clinker construction, in which the planks were attached overlapping each other – such as on Viking ships. In the case of the carvel construction, on the other hand, the inner frame structures are built first and later flush laid planks are attached. This creates a smooth outer hull and large ships get more stability through this construction.
When asked how the ship got to its final resting place, about 300 meters from the coast, the team explains: In the 16th century, the sea apparently still reached there – the course of the coast has changed over the centuries due to sedimentation processes. The ship could have had an accident at the site and ran aground. The experts say it may have been intentionally scrapped there at the end of its service life.
After the investigations are complete, the remains of the ship are to be “buried” again at the site, writes Wessex Archeology in conclusion. As in the past, the sediments can ideally conserve the relic there in the future, the team explains.
Source: Wessex Archaeology