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New Years
Resolution?
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 be that of a Dutch Warship lost
during the
Battle
of Beachy Head in 1690?
Via Jim Bender's website
www.kentishknock.com we 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 this season 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 a 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. Another year has passed and the question still
remains - Is this wreck site the
Resolution?
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