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2007
The Wessex Archaeology Designated Site
Assessment was published in November 2006 and has opened up much debate in
the world of Maritime Archaeology. Is the Normans Bay protected wreck
site the Resolution or could it in fact be that of a Dutch Warship lost
during the
Battle
of Beachy Head in 1690?
Via Jim Bender's website
www.kentishknock.com I have
discovered that Sir William Laird Clowes writes (in his
book
The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest times to 1900 Vol.II) that
ships lost following this awesome sea battle were the Elswout (50
guns), Tholen (60 guns) and Maagd van Enkhuizen (72
guns), all believed to have been burnt by their
crews to prevent the French from taking them; The Wapen van Utrecht
(64 guns) is also reported to have sank soon after the battle.
Peter Padfield writes (in his book
Maritime Supremacy and the Opening of the Western Mind) that the French also took the Friesland (68 guns),
removed the crew, after finding the ship heavily damaged, and sank her.
The question is - where did any remains of these ships
finally settle?
With the current count of cannon on
the Normans Bay wreck being 42 - is the Elswout with 50 guns a prime
candidate for our site?
To find more answers we need to keep
moving the project forward. We hope to make new discoveries this year and
are currently planning this seasons work.
The Project is a fascinating detective
story and will need to involve the skills of many people, above and below
the water.
If you have any information or can
help with further research on the Dutch Warships lost and abandoned in
Pevensey Bay we would love to hear from you.
2007
Licensee Report Summary
2007 Started with the Licensee Meeting in February where I gave a
PowerPoint presentation entitled “My Dive into History” explaining how
discovering an historic shipwreck had drawn me into a new and exciting
world and highlighting the little known opportunities available to sport
divers like myself.
Realising that many licensees had spent much of their lives working on
their projects I started to wonder how I, with very little archaeological
knowledge or experience could actually contribute anything worthwhile.
Being interested in all aspects of Maritime Archaeology, History and
Marine Biology, and yet having little desire to spend the rest of my life
measuring cannon, I decided to encourage others to “dive with a purpose”
with the goal being to slowly build a team of like minded people, guided
by English Heritage and trained by bodies such as the NAS.
Although I have introduced a number of local divers to NAS courses this
year, building a team has not been so easy; unfortunately the only
interested divers so far do not have the experience or confidence to dive
on a poor visibility site in open water and I certainly do not wish to
take responsibility for such divers.
With only a few windows of opportunity between bad weather and poor
visibility, I am still finding my own way around the site and
could not introduce other divers until I can fully navigate the site
myself.
This season I have again been aided by my dive buddy and co finder Martin
Wiltshire and his father Vic Wiltshire, who very kindly provided boat cover
for us from his boat Starna.
Although Martin is keen to visit the site and follow all progress, his
diving interests lie in technical diving and other wreck explorations,
therefore I cannot rely solely on him to continue to assist me and will
need to establish a team of experienced divers for next season if at all
possible.
When not diving I have been working on ways to promote the site whilst
integrating my other diving related interests. To share my findings and
disseminate information to the public I have created this website as a hub
for the project.
Out of my enthusiasm for my new found interests the vision to create a
Marine & Maritime Education Centre at Sovereign Harbour was born and
following various meetings and presentations the idea has been well
received.
(Please see The
Resolution Centre page.)
Fieldwork Activities:
We have only managed to dive the site three times this season.
|
Divers Name |
Date |
Purpose of Dive |
Water Temp |
Visibility |
Dive No. |
Dive Time
|
|
Paul Stratford |
15th April |
Orientation |
12°c |
1mtr |
1 |
46 minutes |
|
Martin Wiltshire |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Stratford |
29th April |
Orientation |
12°c |
2mtr |
2 |
47 minutes |
|
Martin Wiltshire |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul Stratford |
29th July |
Orientation |
18°c |
0.5mtr |
3 |
20 minutes |
|
Martin Wiltshire |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Time Underwater |
113 minutes |
Aided by the 2006 Wessex Archaeology site plan, the above dives were to
re-familiarise ourselves with the site, having not dived it ourselves since
September 05.
Both dives 1 and 2 were carried out at low tide and dive 3 at high tide.
(We have always found better visibility when diving this site at low tide)
On dive 1 we struggled to orientate ourselves and could not clearly read
any of the tag numbers that we came across. We did however noticed more
exposed areas of timber than previously seen by us and also came across a
structure that we believe to be a box sectional copper chimney or duct,
however we were not able to fix this items position.
On dive 2 we descended at the northern end of the site and identified
cannon No. 37, swimming at approximately 150° to the south end along the
eastern side of the site we identified cannon No’s 11, 9, 7 and 1 by
cleaning off tags. We returned to our shot line by reciprocal bearing.
On dive 3 we descended close to the large anchor in the centre of the site
and made our way to the area of timbers in the south east being sampled by
the Wessex Team for Dendrochronological analysis. (The Wessex Team had
been forced to leave site in July due to poor weather returning in August
to continue taking samples from this area)
We identified some of the frame heads in this area but due to very poor
visibility decided to abort the dive.
All other fieldwork this season has been undertaken by Wessex Archaeology.
A copy of the
2007 Wessex
Archaeology Archaeological Report can be downloaded from
the English Heritage website in .PDF format by clicking here.
Other Activities:
January: Created
PowerPoint Presentation for Licensee Meeting.
February: Attended the Licensee Meeting in Plymouth and gave presentation.
Attended the Shipwreck Conference.
March /April: Arranged Talks by NAS and Sea Search at Local Dive Club.
Arranged for interested divers to attend NAS Intro course.
Gave My Dive into History Presentation to members of the Sovereign Harbour
Yacht Club and to Rotary Club.
7th \ 8th July: Joined Wessex Archaeology Team aboard Xplorer to observe
sampling of Timbers for Dendrochronological analysis.
July: Arranged for interested divers to attend NAS Part 1 course.
Article published in the
ACHWS Annual Report.
1st / 3rd September: Joined Wessex Archaeology Team again aboard Xplorer to
observe further sampling of Timbers for Dendrochronological analysis.
September: Article published in Nautical Archaeology News Letter
Ongoing activities:
• Expanding website and continuing to contact interested bodies to inform
them of the project and seek sponsorship and support.
• Attending various meetings with local residents and Councillors to
explore possibilities of creating a Marine & Maritime Education Centre at
Sovereign Harbour.
• Seeking further research information on Dutch ships lost at the Battle
of Beachy Head 1690.
Conclusions:
Despite so few dives this season I am now more familiar with the site;
This better understanding is largely due to being given access to the
Wessex Archaeology site plan, their reports and being allowed to observe
the team as they worked on the site via their video/communication
equipment.
I need to further my own skills and knowledge if I am to lead a team and
carry out worthwhile survey work.
The weather has not been kind this season and I can only hope that next
year provides me with more opportunities.
I intend to renew my survey license in the hope that I can continue moving
the project forward and look forward to an exciting season in 2008.
I am very keen to receive the Dendrochronological analysis of the timber
samples taken by the Wessex Archaeology team as I believe it could open
new debate and possibly attract further interest in the wreck site.
Paul Stratford - Licensee.
2008
Wessex Archaeology dived the site in September, whilst
working in the area on other projects. The following is a brief
description (by Graham Scott - Wessex Archaeology) of the work carried out
on the Norman’s Bay Wreck in 2008.
"English Heritage instructed Wessex Archaeology to
work on the Holland V and Thomas Lawrence sites in the 2008 season. In
order to maximise dive time, work was also scheduled for the Norman’s Bay
site whenever the weather prevented us from working on the more exposed
sites.
As it happened, the weather conditions were exceptionally poor whilst we
were based out of Sovereign Harbour in September and we had very little
opportunity to undertake work on any of the sites. However, we did manage
to undertake a visual inspection of part of the central and south-eastern
sections of the Norman’s Bay site. No gross changes were observed,
although a fine layer of silt was seen to be covering the area of exposed
timber that was sampled in 2007, suggesting that the sampling process has
not reduced the stability of the site. The results of this very basic
inspection suggest that the condition of the site is not greatly altered
since we last inspected it in 2007, although it should be stressed that
the inspection in 2008 was both limited in its scope and did not cover the
entire site."
Graham Scott - Wessex Archaeology.
10 photos were taken by Wessex Archaeology on the site
during the final dive of 2008 and can be viewed in the
Photo Gallery
Please
click
here to listen to the Wessex
Archaeology
podcast 11
I had hoped that this season would have produced
further results but sadly poor weather conditions have meant that the
Normans Bay wreck keeps her secrets for yet another year.
2008
Licensee Report Summary
Disillusioned with the lack of local interest and financial support
for the site, I was very pleased when following discussions with Mark
Beattie-Edwards, a plan to link his
NAS
Holland V research project to the Normans Bay site was proposed and
agreed between us.
With both protected sites being in close proximity, the idea would be for
NAS members to dive the deeper Holland V and then the shallower Normans
Bay site as a second dive.
I believe that such a plan could lead to further joint project work, as it
creates a unique and exciting opportunity to dive two protected and very
different wreck sites in one day.
It would at last bring new interest, ideas and views to the site, whilst
enabling me to learn from other people’s knowledge and experience.
Sadly due to adverse weather conditions, all planned dives had to be
cancelled and I have not in fact been able to visit either site this
season.
Fieldwork Activities:
Sadly, none.
(Other than that undertaken by Wessex Archaeology)
Other Activities:
• Whilst waiting for the UK weather to improve I spent the beginning of
the year travelling in the EU where I took any opportunity to further my
knowledge and skills, exploring the wealth of maritime history that Europe
has to offer and was lucky enough to dive with an archaeological team in
Portugal.
• I applied to study for a Maritime Archaeology MSc degree at Bournemouth
University.
• I have now returned to my European travels and will be continuing to
promote the project to interested parties whilst seeking sponsorship and
support.
Conclusions:
I hope a similar linked project with the NAS can be arranged next season
and will prove to be a positive way forward for the Normans Bay site.
I am eager to learn as much as I can, to enable me to carry out worthwhile
archaeological projects and thereby help educate others to the true value
of our maritime heritage.
I have been accepted to study for a Maritime Archaeology MSc at
Bournemouth University which I hope to enrol on in September 09 subject to
funding.
I intend to renew my survey license in the hope that I can move the
project forward and look forward to an exciting season in 2008.
Paul Stratford - Licensee.
2009
In January, Nigel Nayling's final
report on the
Dendrochronological analysis of the timber samples taken by
the Wessex Archaeology team in 2007 became available. The results confirmed that the
sampled timbers had originated from the Low Countries, lending more weight
to the possibility of the Normans Bay wreck sites identity being that of one of
the Dutch Warships lost during the
Battle
of Beachy Head in 1690.
In June, Wessex Archaeology published the
results of a Marine Geophysical Survey that had been commissioned by
English Heritage to review historical geophysical data sets, held by
English Heritage over a number of designated wreck sites off the South
East coast of England.
The surveys were conducted between the 9th
and 14th September 2008 and then again between the 26th September and the 1st
October 2008.
High resolution sidescan sonar and
magnetometer data were
acquired over 11 wreck sites covering an area of at least 200m x 200m
around each wreck.
Data collected over the Normans Bay wreck
site is of sufficient resolution that it could possibly be used to aid
the production of a more detailed site plan.
(Wessex Ref: 69951.01)
This year the NAS had again planned an
exciting project to dive both the
Holland V
and Normans Bay Wreck Sites but the Great British weather had other
plans:
2009
Licensee Report Summary
Due to an unexpected opportunity abroad, I found myself unable to return
to the U.K this dive season and therefore have been unable to carry out
any work as Licensee on site this year.
My decision to stay abroad was not taken
easily but my personal circumstances coupled with a lack of financial
support as a Licensee have made it difficult for me to justify a return to
the UK in light of a opportunity that has arisen.
Furthermore the very limited financial support available to me as a
prospective post graduate, mature student has meant that I could not enrol
on the offered MSc Degree at BU this year.
I had hoped that the N.A.S joint project, planned for diving both the
Holland V and Normans Bay wreck sites consecutively, would have moved the
project forward in my absence, ensuring that at last the site would
receive the interest and attention it surely deserves.
Mark Beattie-Edwards (N.A.S)
had planned and scheduled dives to take place on the 25th June and 11th
September. Sadly both dives had to be cancelled due to adverse weather
conditions.
Fieldwork Activities: Again, Sadly None.
Conclusions:
I strongly believe that the best way forward for the site is under the
continued guidance, direction and expertise of the
N.A.S,
as unfortunately, I no longer have the support or resources required as an
individual that were available to me in previous seasons.
I sincerely hope that the N.A.S continue to
promote the Normans Bay site and that I am in the position to join them
next season, should a period of dives be planned and well supported.
Paul Stratford - Licensee.
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