Archaeological Report

Transcription

1 Wessex Archaeology Tearing Ledge, Isles of Scilly Designated Site Assessment: Archaeological Report Ref: yy January 2008

2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES IN RELATION TO THE PROTECTION OF WRECKS ACT (1973) TEARING LEDGE, ISLES OF SCILLY DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT Prepared by: Wessex Archaeology Portway House Old Sarum Park Salisbury Wiltshire SP4 6EB Prepared for: English Heritage Fort Cumberland Fort Cumberland Road Eastney Portsmouth PO4 9LD January 2008 Ref: yy Wessex Archaeology Limited 2008 Wessex Archaeology Limited is a Registered Charity No

3 TEARING LEDGE, ISLES OF SCILLY DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT Ref: yy Summary Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by English Heritage to conduct a programme of archaeological works on the Tearing Ledge designated wreck site. The site lies off the southwestern edge of the Isles of Scilly, within an area designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). Work was undertaken as part of the Contract for Archaeological Services in Relation to the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). The site was first discovered in the late 1960s, and was designated in It consists of at least 61 reported cannons, small finds and a bronze bell dated Many items were recovered during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Some of these are in the Museum in St Mary s, however the bulk of the material seems to have become dispersed. Adverse weather meant that it was not possible to dive the site during the period allocated for the assessment, therefore all work was desk-based. An assessment of the Gostello Chart drawn in 1707 just after the loss of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell's fleet on October 22 nd suggests that the wreck at the Tearing Ledge site is that of HMS Romney, a 54 gun 4 th rate built in Blackwall in This is at odds with the current belief that the site is that of HMS Eagle and this issue now needs to be resolved. i

4 TEARING LEDGE, ISLES OF SCILLY DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT Ref: yy Acknowledgements This investigation was commissioned by English Heritage as part of the Contract for Archaeological Services in Relation to the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). The assistance provided by Mark Dunkley of English Heritage is gratefully acknowledged. Wessex Archaeology would also like to thank David McBride for his information and assistance in monitoring the on-site conditions during the period when Wessex Archaeology was attempting to get over to the Isles of Scilly to dive the site. This report was compiled by Steve Webster and Kitty Brandon prepared the illustrations. The project was managed for Wessex Archaeology by Steve Webster. Data Licences The chart used in Figure 1 was obtained from the UK Hydrographic Office. The following notice applies: This product has been derived, in part, from Crown Copyright Material with the permission of the UK Hydrographic Office and the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office ( All rights reserved. NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION. WARNING: The UK Hydrographic Office has not verified the information within this report and does not accept liability for the accuracy of reproduction or any modifications made thereafter. The material derived from the UKHO is subject to licence 820/020220/11 and the conditions on end-users and third parties contained therein. The following chart has been added to Schedule 1 Annex A: Digital use of Chart 34 (dated 2001). ii

5 TEARING LEDGE, ISLES OF SCILLY DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT Ref: yy Contents 1. BACKGROUND Introduction Document Parameters Objectives Existing Site Data METHODOLOGY RESULTS Site Position The Site Summary Archaeological History Desk-based Work in CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES... 6 Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Tearing Ledge site location Gostello chart Front cover illustration Gostello chart iii

6 TEARING LEDGE, ISLES OF SCILLY DESIGNATED SITE ASSESSMENT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT Ref: yy 1. BACKGROUND 1.1. INTRODUCTION This document constitutes a Designated Site Assessment: Archaeological Report for a programme of archaeological work undertaken as part of the Contract for Archaeological Services in Relation to the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). The document has been prepared by Wessex Archaeology (WA) for English Heritage (EH). It constitutes an assessment of Tearing Ledge: a designated wreck site located within the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall (Figure 1) The work was conducted in accordance with a brief provided by EH (EH 2007). The fieldwork was due to be carried out during June 2007, however adverse weather meant that all work was desk-based DOCUMENT PARAMETERS This document has been generated from a limited desk-based study of readily available sources concerning the history of work on the site and archive documents. WA considers this to be a working document designed to open up debate on the topic in question. Every attempt has been made to ensure that the facts within the report are correct; however errors arising from the preliminary character of the desk-based study may be present OBJECTIVES The objectives for the fieldwork, as defined in the Brief (EH 2007), were as follows: Confirm the position of the archaeological remains at Tearing Ledge in relation to the 200m restricted area. Contact Dave McBride and Kevin Camidge to assist with their planned work for 2007 (to involve positioning survey datums). Contact Eleanor Breen (Assistant Planning Officer, Council for the IoS) and offer the opportunity for her to accompany WA during the assessment. Eleanor is also EH s Field Monument Warden for the Isles. With reference to previous investigations, undertake a Condition Survey of the site. Condition may be assessed against similar criteria to buildings at risk i.e. optimal ( good); generally satisfactory ( fair), generally unsatisfactory ( poor), extensive problems ( very bad). With reference to previous investigations, determine the vulnerability of the site. Vulnerability may be assessed against environmental factors and human influences on the site, including the setting. Produce a structured record of field observations. Key elements are to be subject to detailed examination and recording (position by acoustic survey, taped measurements, photographs and video and written database entries). 1

7 1.4. EXISTING SITE DATA The position of the site as given in the Statutory Instrument (SI) is as follows: Lat. Long. 49º ' N 06º ' W WGS The SI number for the site is 1975/174. From the centre point (given above) the designated area consisted of a circle with a radius of 200m (Figure 1) The current Licensee is David McBride Other information available prior to the assessment was as follows: 2006 Licensee Report; 2003 Licensee Report; 2003 Licensee Report; 1998 Licensee Report; 1997 Licensee Report; 007 ADU Report; 98/07 ADU Report; 1975 Statutory Instrument; A plan of the site provided by David McBride. 2. METHODOLOGY Proposed Diving Work WA had intended to spend two days diving on the site as part of a wider programme of work for several sites in Cornwall. Unfortunately during WA s time in Cornwall weather conditions prevented diving on the Tearing Ledge site Very calm weather is required in order to place a surface supplied diver on the site. The wreckage lies within a submarine gully that lies directly below a 35 metre drop off Tearing Ledge, which breaks the surface close to the western end of the gully. The upper Tearing Ledge end of the gully is 40 metres wide and its base lies at a depth of metres. From this point the gully slopes down (presumably to the south-west although this is not stated in the ADU reports) to a depth of 45 metres, at which point it is c.15 metres wide In order to moor a dive vessel close enough to the shallower north-eastern end of the site and deploy a diver tethered to the vessel, the conditions have to be such that there is no chance of the vessel being driven towards the rocks. However, the site is subject to prevailing south-westerly winds and Atlantic swell, both tending to push a vessel moored on the site onto the rocks. In addition to this the effect of the ledge upon the swell is reported to produce very turbulent conditions, even in calm weather, and the area is also subject to strong surface currents WA did not encounter a suitable window of weather conditions which could have allowed the dive team to travel to the Isles of Scilly, conduct diving operations on the 2

8 Tearing Ledge site and return to Cornwall. As forecast weather suggested it was highly unlikely that any effective operations would take place on the site, it was decided, following consultation with EH, not to travel to the Isles of Scilly so as not to impinge on the other objectives for WA s time in Cornwall and thereafter. Desk-based Assessment During the post-excavation process a limited archive assessment was conducted. This involved compiling a summary history of the archaeological investigations on the site (see Section 5). This section was not based on a full assessment of all the documentary sources that may exist, but was rather just a summary of the information in those documents that were readily available to WA In addition to this the Gostello chart was tracked down and a copy was obtained for analysis (see Figure 2). 3. RESULTS 3.1. SITE POSITION Lat. Long. 49º ' N 06º ' W WGS THE SITE Location: ' N; ' W (WGS 84) Site: Spread of artefacts, primarily guns, from wrecking incident in The Tearing Ledge site may be the remains of one of a number of ships belonging to Admiral Cloudesley Shovell's fleet, which struck the Western Rocks of the Isles of Scilly on October 22 nd The two candidates for the wreck are the 1065 ton Eagle, a 70 gun 3 rd rate built in Portsmouth as part of the Thirty Ships programme in 1679, and re-built at Chatham in 1699, and the 683 ton Romney, a 54 gun 4 th rate built in Blackwall in The main feature of the site is a spread of at least 61 cannons, with two main clusters at either end of the site. Six cannons, together with concreted cannon balls, lie on top of Tearing Ledge itself in very shallow water. There is no evidence for any surviving ship s structure. Finds include anchors, silver and gold coins, shot and cannon balls, a bronze bell dated 1701 and other metal artefacts. No objects made of wood or other organic materials have been discovered. The bulk of the material lies within a steepsided, sand filled gully in more than 30 metres of water. Many of the finds raised from the seabed have been sold and the assemblage is now dispersed SUMMARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORY : Cannon site located in deep water off Tearing Ledge by local divers. Many artefacts were recovered at the time, including a ship s bell now on display in the museum on St Mary s. 3

9 th March 1975: Site designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). Site subsequently investigated by Peter McBride, Richard Larn and Licensee Rex Cowan November 1978: Drawn survey mentioned in ADU 007 report. No other details September 1986: Site visited by the ADU, who state that they conducted 12 dives, nearly six hours bottom time, but that the deeper sections of the site were not dived for reasons of depth. Excavations in progress led by Rex Cowan with divers such as Terry Hiron and Mac Mace The ADU report indicates that activities included excavation (by hand, airlift and explosives), the recovery of artefacts and conservation. However, they note an absence of accurate planning (no fixed grid was in use and divers were not sure where they were working), a lack of appropriate archaeological expertise and the absence of on-site finds recording ADU noted that the position of the cannons on the site plan did not match their measurements. They stated that this and the contours on the site plan were wholly inaccurate due to the methods used to generate the plan (mostly sketching by a freeswimming diver) : ADU visit the site but are unable to dive : ADU visit the site but are unable to dive : ADU visit the site and conduct one difficult 24-minute dive. No further site information is recorded : Two licenses given to site. One Licensee unable to dive site due to poor weather conditions. The other made two dives and reported that the site was unchanged compared to previous years : Work was planned, but not achieved due to weather : A contractor visit was planned but was not possible due to weather. A desk based assessment of the Gostello Chart has clarified which of the wrecks of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell's fleet is likely to be present at the Tearing Ledge site DESK-BASED WORK IN A copy of the Gostello chart was obtained from the National Archives at Kew. It contained the legend: A Map of the Islands of Scilly. Shewing all the Rocks And Ledges, with the Soundings & Barings, And y e Exact Places wher e The Association Eagle Rumny, & Tierbrand was Lost. These Islands are In Number 53 and but 7 Of them Inhabited. Sidney Kedolfin y e Gover nour Edmund Gostelo F The chart shows the islands, towns, abbey, churches, lighthouse and other buildings on a circular map surrounded by a landscape, one house, lighthouse, humans, native and exotic animals, mermaid and sea monsters. It includes notes on tides, and was drawn to a scale of 2 inches to 2 miles. 4

10 The chart shows the arms of Queen Anne post Act of Union, Other details include: the title in an ornamental cartouche, supported by two robed, male figures, and the scale bar in ornamental cartouche, surrounded by two putti, masks, two mourning human figures and a griffin rampant. The names are written as spoken: recte Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, and Edmund [?Costello], about whom nothing additional is known. Godolphin lived to 1712, but had been dismissed from government in The ships mentioned are those associated with the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovell s fleet, which was wrecked in October They are HMS Association, HMS Romney and HMS Firebrand (the initial letter of Tierbrand in the map title is 'F' without the horizontal bar). The map is 0.43m in diameter, on a sheet measuring 0.47m x 0.59m Exact georeferencing of the chart proved to be difficult. However, the chart clearly marks the point of loss of HMS Romney (marked on the Gostello chart as Rumny ) just to the south of Bishop Rock (marked on the Gostello chart as Biship and Clerns ) and adjacent to the Crebinicks (marked on the Gostello chart as Creeberinack ) i.e. the location of the Tearing Ledge designated site. The wreck of HMS Association is shown to the east, much closer to the Western Rocks, and HMS Eagle is shown to the north, next to Crim Rocks The surveyor of the Gostello chart was clearly of the opinion that HMS Romney was the wreck lost in the area of the current Tearing Ledge designation. This is at odds with the belief that the site is that of HMS Eagle, however this misunderstanding may have arisen within the archaeological community because the current Admiralty chart marks reefs called Tearing Ledge next to both Crim Rocks (the loss point of HMS Eagle) and next to Bishop Rock (the loss point of HMS Romney and the location of the current designated area). It should be noted that Roland Morris s report on his salvage of HMS Eagle, dated 1970, confirms this interpretation, as his report clearly identifies Crim Rocks as the location of the wreck. 4. CONCLUSIONS It now seems that contemporary records suggest that the wreck at the Tearing Ledge site is that of HMS Romney, a 54 gun 4 th rate built in Blackwall in This is at odds with the recorded 61 guns on the site, and to a certain extent with the bell dated 1701 the date of the re-fit of HMS Eagle. As a result it is clear that the site archive now needs to be re-assessed in light of this information The archive research suggests that the site has been subject to an unknown amount of excavation. WA does not know of any coherent finds list, and the finds recovered during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (and 1990s?) are reported to have been dispersed. A desk-based approach seems to be the only possible means of bringing this knowledge into the archaeological domain The loss of Admiral Cloudesley Shovell's fleet proved to be the catalyst for many significant advances in navigation. The 300 th anniversary of the sinking, 22 nd October 1707, has now passed, however this would still be a good time to re-assess all the archaeological evidence for all of the losses on that night. 5

11 5. REFERENCES Archaeological Diving Unit, 1986, Monitoring Report Unpublished report Ref: 007. Archaeological Diving Unit, 1998, Monitoring Report Unpublished report Ref: 98/07. English Heritage, 2007, Brief for Archaeological Services in Relation to the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973). Site: Tearing Ledge, Unpublished report. Wessex Archaeology, 2003, Archaeological Services in Relation to the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973): Recording Methodologies, Unpublished report Ref: a. Wessex Archaeology, 2005, Tearing Ledge Designated Site Assessment: Full Report, Unpublished Report Ref: x. 6

12 Designated Area (200m radius) Saint Martin's Bryher Tresco Saint Mary's ISLES OF SCILLY Saint Agnes Tearing Ledge Admiralty Chart 34 (dated 2001) Drawing Projection: UTM WGS84 z29n SI position N W (WGS. 84) Wessex Archaeology Tearing Ledge site location This product has been derived, in part, from Crown Copyright Material with the permission of the UK Hydrographic Office and the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationary Office ( All rights reserved. (Metoc Licence Number ) NOT TO BE USED FOR NAVIGATION WARNING: The UK Hydrographic Ofice has not verified the information within this product and does not accept liability for the accuracy of reproduction or any modifications made thereafter. Date: Scale: Path: 11/07/07 Revision Number: 0 1:100,000 & (inset) 1:4000 Illustrator: KJB W:\53111\Drawing Office\...\2007\...\z29_2007_TearingLedge Figure 1

13 Eagle Firebrand Romney Association Date: Wessex Archaeology Scale: 10/07/07 Not to scale Revision Number: Illustrator: 0 KJB Path: U:\PROJECTS\53111\Drawing Office\Report Figures\2007\z29_2007_Tearingledge Gostello chart Figure 2

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