Looking for the Phoenix Bell.

 With all the new wrecks I have discovered over the years, I have never yet found a whole complete ships bell.  This is because the sea does such damage to lost vessels here that they get dispersed far and wide. Not only that but most of the shallow sites were extensively salvaged when they were originally wrecked here. The locals have always been expert salvors or called in the big guns like the Deane brothers Lethbridge and Braithwaite. Deeper wrecks sometimes produce them. I was hoping for a bell when I found the Phoenix but then learned about Thomas Ekins who extensively salvaged on Scilly. I also found a document showing all the cargo that was salvaged from the wreck in 1680. During his time here Ekins worked at least 5 wrecks that I know of. Phoenix being one of them. I am pretty certain that timbers from both the Phoenix and the Golden Lyon- two wrecks lost in 1680, both lost in very accessible positions, were heavily worked by Ekins- and that those timbers from both these ships went to build the first church on St Agnes Island-which was known to be constructed entirely of wood. It has also always been known that the church carried a bell in its tower that also came from a shipwreck. Again one wonders if that too came from Phoenix along with the wood. Was the bell from Phoenix Golden Lyon or some other wreck I know that Ekins had salvaged?  

The first wooden church got blown down by a great storm in the early 18th century but was resurrected back stronger shortly after with the same wood.  However, that too got blown down sometime later.  This is not unlike the story of the 3 little pigs as the current church was built of stone to replace the two previous weaker built structures and it still stands today. This was built in the late 18th century. But what about the original bell? Where did it go? Was it put back? I went to find out. 

When the current church was built a bell was sent over from St Marys to go in its new tower, and it is reported to have come from a local shipwreck. "Urika" thought I, maybe it is the original bell returning! So one day recently I got permission from the local reverend to climb up the tower to have a look. I climbed the first ladder, opened a very dusty hatch which was covered in guano, then ascended up the next vertical ladder praying to see a bell with either a name or a date embossed upon it- or at very least to see a bell that may date into the 17th century. I was really hoping for positive evidence of it being from a shipwreck of the 1600's, however scant that evidence maybe. However, I was not to be disappointed in regards to it being from a shipwreck.

Sadly the bell was not from the Phoenix a wreck I found west of Samson, nor was it the Golden Lyon a wreck I have proven to be east of the Menglow Rock; both lost in 1680. Nor was it from any other wreck related to Thomas Ekins or even from the 17th century. But it was from a shipwreck and not one I had yet heard of as being wrecked in this area. The bell was from a Swedish ship called- the 'Count Lillieberg'. and that ship was built in 1781, long after Ekins had died. So the original bell was lost but this new bell needed further investigation. So now I was looking for a Swedish ship  possibly lost at Scilly in or after the year 1781. I had a few narratives in my files of swedish losses here in the years after 1781 but which narrative went with the bell? Where was the wreck ? Was she lost at Scilly as legend stated? I am looking into this and thus far all I know is that the way the word Frigate is spelt by the Swedish determines whether or not the ship was a Swedish navy vessel or an armed merchant vessel of similar size. I therefore believe this was from a merchant vessel built at Helgerum in 1781 and this ship appears in the Swedish ship listings for merchant vessels. The bell itself was made by Anders Billsten at Norrkoping.  (Guten = Cast.) (Fregatt Skieppet = Frigate ship)  (Grefwe = Count)

There is also a bell in the tower on Bryher Island that is also from a Swedish Frigate. That bell bares the name Aurora 1746. Is there 2 Swedish frigates lost at Scilly?  Coincidence? I will look into the Bryher bell at some point too.