Drs Keys Wreck

 Wreck at Drs Keys

This is a wreck I found very close to home. Its tight in along the shore at a rocky outcrop called the Drs Keys. As is usual,  I found a good few years  ago  while towing a magnetometer. Its so shallow just 4meters at low tide, that you can see it while snorkelling. Just 3 guns found so far and one anchor. The anchor is so shallow, that you can touch it while snorkelling on the surface. It is right on the very end of the Drs Keys.in just 1 .5 m. I think this is a civil war wreck as a few were lost at St Marys somewhere. Its a good candidate. However Im not sure if the guns look a little later like guns of a George 1st or 2nd period which could point towards the wreck of the Triumph which was lost in1736 but I dont really know for sure as the historical narrative of the loss of the Triumph places her as lost South of the Steval. Maybe the narratives writer, Reverend Troutbeck, misheard the tale which may have been the Steval was south of the wreck. Thin I know but possible as Troutbeck didnt write his book until 60 years after the Triumph was lost.  Heres what they are most likely linked to-

After the surrender of Tresco Island to Admiral Blake and the parliamentarian forces on that island in 1651, St Marys Island began to be rendered useless to the Royalists as neither side then had overall command of the main anchorage of St Marys Roads, as shown in a narrative by Sir George Ascue who talks about the benefit to Parliament in the taking of Tresco and Samson in 1651: “The two islands command the road, as well as St Mary’s and the gaining of those two Islands would render St Marys useless to the enemy, besides it would be a speedy means to force St Marys Island to submission…… the men of war belonging to these piratical rocks, will be like mice that run from a falling house, and must be forced to seek a new rendevous. Neither can St Marys exist without them”. Evenso, the Royalists fought on- but with diminishing resolve. Soon after this a Captured Royalist sailor, after questioning aboard Admiral Blakes ship Pheonix, divulged to a Captain Cornelius Evertson, news of the enemy strength on and around St Marys island at that time. This is recorded in the Marinors Mirror: “The Enemies strength to be not above 700 men and probably also that a dejection was spreading among them” The report then went on to show what happened next:- "On the next afternoon a tremendous storm broke, which forced Blakes men of War out to sea, blew down their soldiers tents, and drove ashore as total wrecks two of the enemies best frigates which rode under the hugh hill near their shore to prevent our boats coming in to land there”. All intelligence was passed on to Admiral Blake; who was desperate to take the whole of Scilly back for the Parliament. Only one thing stood in the way of Parliamentarian forces affecting a successful landing on St Marys- and that was the report that the two best ships of the royalist fleet were anchored with their guns covering any vulnerable landing places, ie the beaches which clearly needed more heavily fortifying for obvious reasons. All seemed to be in stalemate in the conflict for control of Scilly at this time but Parliamentarian forces had been sent to retake Scilly, so it was upon them to take the fight from Tresco over to St Marys. However, fortunately for Blake, the severe storm on the 10 th of May which forced his own ships out to sea, was tinged with a silver lining and the possible catalyst which forced the issue; the same storm had also wrecked the two best Royalist vessels which were then reported as ‘riding under the Hew Hill’. (Garrison Hill was once called Hugh Hill or The Hew). This sudden double disasterous loss for the Royalists had tipped the balance in Blakes favour for an invasion of St Marys. It can therefore be argued that this one single wrecking incident spelt the end of Royalist command of Scilly as it is recorded that it- “removed the one last obstacle by sea” -standing in the way of a sea born invasion of St Marys by Admiral Blake. Indeed, shortly after this double wrecking incident occurred, St Marys Garrison did indeed surrender to Admiral Blake. So which Royalist best ships were actually wrecked here? The answer is- we don’t know. Of around a dozen Royalist Warships known to have been here at the time, only a handful have thus far shown up in research. The records show that Blake captured two Royalist ships at New Grimsby. These were the St Michael and the Peter. The St Michael was renamed the Gillyflower and, interestingly, the Peter was renamed the Bryar after being: “captured in Bryher Harbour” So the wrecks were neither of those two ships. A ship named the Royal James also seems to have been operating around Scilly, but this was reported captured in 1654 by the Parliament and renamed the Sorlingues. The Mary, a 24 gun ship that was given to the pirate captain John Mucknell by the Prince of Wales, as a replacement for the loss of the 44 gun ship John in 1645, fled Scilly just before Blake arrived. The Mary was driven ashore at Cartagena by Blake in a later encounter. Another Royalist ship known to be at Scilly at this time was the Crowned lion but she was captured and renamed the Marigold and sold in 1658. All we have to go on is the statement “Best frigates” which means the two wrecked vessels were probably over 20 guns each and/or were relatively new vessels. None of the above ships are recorded as lost at Scilly but there were no doubt other ships in the Royalist fleet as Prince Rupert had sent half his ships here under Vice Admiral John Mucknell to retake and hold Scilly; which they had been doing since 1648. The Royalist ships were more likely to have been foreign. This half of the fleet numbered around a dozen vessels in all but as the Royalists ultimately lost the war, so vast details of their movements and losses etc, went totally unrecorded.  Neither is it known on which side of the Hew hill these ships were wrecked but I rather suspect one could well be the remains I have discovered at the Drs Keys; it being originally protecting the landing area between Taylors Island and Rat Island and blown from its anchors into the north side of that rocky out crop. The 3 weapons and 1 anchor I have recorded in very shallow water there (snorkelling depth 2-4meters at low spring tides) is all that remains. However, being in such shallow depth means the wreck must have been heavily salvaged at the time so could heve been a lot bigger. These guns and anchor tell the tale. They are of the correct style to have been from the English Civil period and thus seem to fit the narrative in date and position under the Hew Hill. You can stand on the anchor at low tide.

                                     Guns 1&2  Im Pointing at the second gun 2 in the picture

Gun 3

                                                                              gun 1

                                                          Anchor on the end of Drs Keys

Golden Lyon?

 

The cannon site on the west side of St Agnes. This site was thought, by those before me, to be the wreck of the Phoenix. Unknown why they thought that just one of those where someone felt the need to name it and couldnt think of anything better I suppose. Even when I uncovered the chart that showed this must be the wreck of the Golden Lyon, 30 gun Virginia trading ship- this clear evidence was oddly refuted by some of my peers. However, I was then able to back up the chart with an original narrative from the Trinity House archives that states how- "the Golden Lyon, Virgini ship, Captain Rich commanding, was lost under the new St Agnes tower" (Capt Rich being asleep in bed at the time his ship was lost) It is now accepted (by some) to be the Golden Lyon. I found one other narrative of note- in the deposition of the First mate Brumell-who stated how she was- 'lost off Annet' but this was later deemed as spurious as Brumell, who was in command at the time, was thought to be lying at his court martial to save his own career....imagine having to say to your Boss, "Very sorry but I lost your ship right under a brand new lighthouse!!" It didnt look good for Brummel, so naturally he lied..

The St Agnes lighthouse keeper was also brought up in court for deliberately causing this wreck, simply so he could steal things from the site- a charge brought by the First Mate Brumell-This the keeper strenuously denied, it was an extremely serious crime and a potentially very damaging charge. The keeper answered how he was saving things for the owners as the locals were plundering everything from the wreck at the time. Since then numerous modern publications have stated that the keeper was 'found guilty' of all charges and sacked. Again my research proved he was actually exonerated and- 'under caution' -went on to serve for another 3 years as St Agnes light keeper. Timbers from this wreck went to build the wooden church that once stood where the current one is on St Agnes today. Put this together with the easy access salvage by locals and you can understand just how accessible this wreck must have been when it originally went in. Looking at the site today- the ship must have been lost to a high point just inside the east side of Menglow rock. Here she must have stood balanced on top of an inner part of the reef at low tide with her stern touching the Menglow and her bows to the shore. No wonder the Lighthouse keeper could get at her so easily. He could walk to the site at low tide and literally step onto the wreck and along with the thieving locals just take things ashore. 

  There are 3 wrecks in this position. First to arrive was this one in 1680. Then the Firebrand arrived close by in 1707 and she struck south side of Menglow. The two all but overlap. Next to arrive was the Earl of Lonsdale in 1885 and this steamer lays over a few of the guns of the Golden Lyon. This small bit of my chart shows the words 'Golden Lyon Lost' written right at the foot of the Lighthouse by Simon Bayly whom drew the document in late 1680 to 1681. Two more wrecks shown on it yet to find. Lastly, there is a figurehead in the Valhalla on Tresco that is stated as being from an unknown shipwreck. It is a carving of a Golden Lyon.

Chieftain? Juno? Gilmore? or Joseph & Betsey?

 

Here in the Isles of Scilly there is a shipwreck timber standing in the front garden outside of Evergreen cottage but from which local shipwreck did it originate? If you believe what one particular historian has written over the years then you'd be confused-he has written it as being- The Chieftain, The Gilmore, & the Juno. However, here is what I think that timber came from with research shown to me by the divers of Kent who located the wreck using it.

On the north & east side of the Hard lewis lays the wreck of the Steamer Kingcadwallon. If one swims down to the bottom of this wreck, to where the steering quadrant of the stern end of the ship stands proud in the tide, from that position in all but 40meters depth, with a little effort, one can easily come into contact with another wreck. On a day of good underwater visibility, from the aforementioned quadrant one can see over the edge of a sheer cliff of a deep narrow gap. Looking across this precipice one can see the other side where a flat sloping rock denotes the base of the Hard Lewis. Move across away from the Kingcadwallon quadrant and traverse this gap – and go over the sloping rock, moving south, one can then go around the base of the Hard Lewis to traverse back up the other side of the reef. As you traverse the rocky slope upwards on this other side, in about 30m one comes across the scant and scattered remains of another shipwreck. Unlike the goliath steel structure of the King Cadwallon , this other wreck, on the South side of the reef, is denoted nowadays only by a few guns, bits of ironwork and copper nails and timbers; much of which is buried from view. This wreck has had at least three names attributed to it in publications over the years. First it was wrongly identified as the 'Chieftan' a ship that was lost elsewhere. However, more recently its been publicised as being the wreck of the 'Juno' where a possibly misleading report stated a bell of that name was lifted from the site. However, in more recent times the updated version of that same publication has dropped that particular part of this story and reverted back to the site as 'unidentified'. This site has also been quoted as being the 'Gilmore' but again no hard evidence was offered up for this attribute to the wreck either. Due to mere conjecture and a lack of any proper research, the name of this site has naturally become a tad confused over the years. As a result of this confusion, I set about trying to clear it up and so here, with no little help from the divers of Kent, is my offering on the subject of this site and thus the probability from what ship the Evergreen cottage timber originated from. I believe the most likely candidate for this wreck to be the 'Joseph & Betsey' and here is why- An Admiralty court martial relating to a ship of that name being lost in that position exists. And whilst we may never truly know the identity of this wreck- the Court martial papers and narrative to which I refer are the only real evidence yet put forward of a wreck of the correct period that was lost in that same vicinity. The evidence is found in the Admiralty Secretary, Reports of a Court Martial in February 1771 found in the Public Records Office at Kew. The evidence given in this investigation into the disaster roundly blames the Scilly pilots for giving false information to the Commander of the two ships involved- The Admiralty Brig , 'Joseph & Betsey.' & The ship 'Industry' another naval tender that sailed in company with her. The evidence shows that the local pilots guided these two vessels from St Marys Harbour and conveyed them through Crow Sound out to Menawethan. Here off Menawethan the pilots stated that a northerly course would take the ships by Hanjaque and that nothing lay between there and the open sea to St Georges channel where they were bound; and that their course would be a safe route between Scilly and the Seven Stones. The pilots also stated, to some of the ships officers, that one could sail so close to St Martins as to be able to: “throw a biscuit ashore and encounter no danger” -which is somewhat true, however, there are numerous rocks further out from that shore; Hard Lewis being one of them. The records show that the two vessels then parted company with the pilots somewhere just off Menawethan and sailed north passing by the Hanjaque. They later state that the Joseph and Betsey then struck a sunken rock about a mile north of Hanjaque which is roughly where the Hard lewis is. Looking at a chart one can clearly see how a northerly course from Menawethan to a rock of about a mile from Hanjaque leads one to the south side of the Hard Lewis rocks where the mysterious wreck now lies today. Below is the hostorical narrative verbatum and some other evidence presented at the court martial. Note the spelling of the names of the rocks are different from todays- This is often the case with historic documents.

Narrative of the loss of the Admiralty Brig Joseph & Betsey tender Liuetenent Isaac Valliant. Commander on the part of His Majesty & Thomas Forward on the part of the Owner.

On the 30^th January 1771, at half past four o'clock in ye afternoon, sailed from ye harbour of St Mary's in Scilly, in company with His Majesty's Tender 'Industry' Liuetenent William Lockhart Commnder, both being bound up St Georges Channel, and both under the then guidence and directions of two profest Scilly Pilots, -John Teniere (Sic). (Trenear maybe? The other pilot is not named). our pilot having conducted us through Crow Sound, he gave notice in the precence of the officers, that ye vessel was then arrived clear of all danger, and that he brought us further than ye man of war or other ships and that as such he had done with the charge of the vessel- I Thomas Forward being Master on the part of the owners, then did call the said pilot down to the cabbin (sic) and did there in the presence of liuetenent Isaac Valliant, and mr nathaniel Ayres, mate, ask him several questions relative to any rocks or shoals that might intecept us between the Island of Scilly and the rocks called the Seven Stones (the passage of which is upwards of 3 leagues over) to all and every of which he gave us the most positive assurance that there was no danger whatever, and that we might sail from the place we then was all along that part of the coast at a distance of a quarter of a mile, there being nothing that distance off Scilly side to the Seven Stones in the way- but in order to be still more certain I had a recourse to Collins's draft and pointing out to the pilot the exact place of ye vessel, he again and again assured us that there was not the least reason to be afraid of attempting that passage with a leading wind as it then was being WSW-and blowing fresh. The pilot was then discharged it being 5 o,clock. ( It was in January so by that time it would already be dark) We then made sail to the Northward but in order to be safer, as the channel to the Seven Stones was upwards of three leagues-we did not approach neigher than two miles off Scilly side.- notwithstanding repeated assurances from the pilot that there was no danger further than a quarter of a mile off. At six o'clock we then being about two miles from where the pilot had left us, and about that distance from St Martins head, we struck upon a sunken rock, and by ye violence of the sea, instantly beat off and struck upon another which beat in the bottom of the vessel and she began to fill very fast, a few seconds after the sea drove us from that rock into deep water, and in two minutes she foundered out of sight and during which short interval of time, we threw overboard the boats, and in a most miraculous manor saved all our lives except one man and by the timely assistance of the 'Industry', Tender, then in company; (which we avoided of sharing the same fate by calling to them) we were taken on board her- and we attest that the sole cause of the loss of the vessel was entirely down to the strong assurances given to us by the pilot, that there was not any danger on that part of the coast, and we further attest that no such accident would have happened if the pilot had given us just account.

The one man lost was ill in his bed at the time of the disaster and so did not make it on deck to escape. The Industry was only half a cables length astern of the Joseph and Betsey but it was enough for it to avoid a greater disaster and further loss of life; and to be present that January night in bad weather to be able to save those who were forced to take to the boats from the sinking Joseph & Betsey. The course of the two ships can be plotted onto a chart and it pretty much leads one to the Hard Lewis. They could not see the rock the Joseph & Betsey struck because it was dark at the time, and, more importantly, it was high tide. The Hard Lewis rock shows at lower states of the tide but around high water it is hidden. Had it been low water the ships would have left St Marys harbour and exited Scilly via St Mary's Sound rather than Crow Sound which would have been to shallow to attempt at low. It is in the questioning of the officers and crew that gives a little more detail of their course and the conditions that evening 30^th January 1771; night was upon them and the tide was stated by the witnesses to be at first quarter ebb- so no more than an hour after high water; further concealing the rocks in question. Liuetentent William Lockhart, commander of the Industry who wrote a similar deposition to the court as the one supplied by Isaac Valliant. It is in Lockharts letter stating how the pilots had made the- “throw a biscuit ashore”- remark, Lockhart also wrote that the pilots advice was- “to steer NW by N as soon as we had passed the rock called Meniwithen which they pointed to” Lockharts deposition is also in the same file at Kew as the other narrative above, and he was questioned upon it by the Court then held aboard HMS Royal Oak at Fowey in February 1771: Court: 'did you steer the safe course as the pilots directed?'

Lockhart: 'No, the offing I took was greater than the pilots directed'.

Court: 'Do you think the pilots meant you to sail between the rocks on which the ship was lost?'

Lochart:' Certainly not, nor do I suppose that the pilots themselves knew of such rocks being there'

Court: 'What distance were the rocks on which the Joseph & Bestsey was lost from the nearest visible shore?'

Lockhart: 'About a mile from the rock called Hingate.' (Hanjaque)

So there it is, a course set NW by N from just off Menawethen to strike a rock about a mile from Hanjague. The outer south eastern corner of Hard Lewis is where this mysterious wreck now lays.

As for the other candidates to this wreck, we can rule out that this wreck is the Chieftan as once claimed as she was never wrecked here at Scilly but foundered somewhere out in the Atlantic ocean.. As for it being the Juno - there are 3 references to ships by that name lost around the islands but none state any of these as being lost at the Hard Lewis rocks or even the Eastern Isles or St Martins. The only reference to this wreck being the Juno is that an author once wrote that a bell with that name on it had been lifted by a diver from a site on the Hard Lewis- but this 'evidence' was curiously retracted from an updated version of the same publication. There is evidence that the 450 ton Barque 'Gilmore' was indeed lost in that area. However, she was wrecked there in 1866 and the wreckage in deep water is of an earlier site. Furthermore, the narrative of the Gilmore showed that she was stuck fast on top of one of the rocks thereabouts and thus her remains must be much shallower. As far as I can gather from those who dived the site in deep water and whom lifted the timber in question from the wreck, they state that the salvage was from a wreck around 90 feet underwater close by the south side of the Hard Lewis. Lastly, this author remembers seeing two guns on the site which looked to me to be naval style weapons called carronades and not the sort of thing usually to be found on a merchant vessel of the mid 19^th century like Gilmore. The Joseph & Betsey was an admiralty brig and so highly likely to have had such weapons on board. This naval vessel fits the date of the wreckage and the position of the narratives above and its loss also fits the depth of the known wreckage. Liuetenent Valliant wrote that his ship was driven by the sea into deep water and Lockhart stated that the Joseph & Betsey “went straight down with all masts still standing” Straight down & deep water puts her right by the rock and not on top of it like the wrecking of the Gilmore. There is of course many ships lost to these islands and this site could of course be something else entirely. I have just presented some new positive evidence of a wreck lost thereabouts and leave this information to the next wreck hunter or historian to ponder over. However, until then the timber outside Evergreen Cottage I believe should be attributed to the loss of the Admiralty Brig Joseph & Betsey. The discovery of this wreck site should be attributed to divers from Kent many years ago and whom found the wreck using this same historical research which they recently sent over to me. Placing this alongside my own and knowledge of the wrecks here, rightly or wrongly, I have come to the above conclusions.

Todd. Stevens.

Shipwreck Douro? Slave ship? or Custos

First click on this link and watch this short  but entertaining video about this shipwreck:

 (7) Illegal slave trader, Manilla Shipwreck site, Isles of Scilly. - YouTube

The video tells the story but after seeing it now I have to add that whatever ship this was it was not necessarily an 'illegal slaver' It was only carrying the currency accepted in Nigeria at that time and this alone does not mean it was dealing with Nigeria for buying slaves after the abolition in 1808. - they may simply have been using the then traditional currency of manillas and beads to purchase other unrelated goods in that country. Its an easy mistake and I too have made the same 'slaver' assumption because of the cargo here in this video. Unless the ship was actually carrying slaves, or fitted out to take that cargo, then it can not be called a slave ship or an illegal slaver. Further to this, Slavers had lots of iron shackles and lots of other related ironwork for imprisoning its human cargo below deck- none of which has been encountered on the site yet to date. 

Much has been made over this wreck in modern times and I have been trying to put the record straight regarding this story. I am not saying I am right but the evidence does back up my theory. Certainly, had my theory been put forward before the scant evidence of this wreck being the Douro, then I feel it would be called the wreck of the Custos today on this new evidence. I have not seen any evidence to date that shows this is the wreck of the Douro lost in 1843. The only connection is that the Douro has a report of it being lost in the area-“This vessel, registered at 400 tons’ burthen, with a valuable cargo on board, was totally lost, with all her crew, on the night of Thursday last, the 28th of January, upon the rocks at the westward of the Scilly Islands. At an early hour on the following morning the ill-fated vessel was discovered by some fishermen, with her mast gone, and thrown on the rocks upon her broadside, with the sea making a complete breach over her. They immediately bore down to the spot, but there was no one on board to give them the slightest information; every soul belonging to her had perished. In the course of the morning the vessel bumped so heavily upon the rocks that she soon went to pieces, and part of her cargo came ashore. Several bales of cotton twist, marked ‘K’, in a diamond, 832, Queen-street, Miles, S. and B., 24 Manchester, have been saved from the wreck, also some bales of printed goods, and bundles of hemp. On Saturday, the log book was found about two miles from the spot where the ship struck, from which it appears that she was bound to Oporto, and had reached a number of miles to the westward of the island, when a severe leak being discovered, obliged the crew to put her back, and was no doubt making all possible haste to England when the sad disaster occurred. On the same day four bodies were washed up on the beach, which have been proved to be belonging to the vessel. One of them is supposed to be her unfortunate commander, Mr. Gowland, and others his seamen. The rock upon which the vessel struck is called the Crekavesthan, and is situated about a mile from the beach. The vessel is reported as to be fully insured.”

The above narrative of the Douro states Crekavesthan which must mean Crebawethan. One modern writer states the douro cargo as being  “baled goods and brass stops” However I have never been able to find the reference regarding these- "brass stops" to verify the existence of the narrative.  If the reference does exist then "Brass stops" could mean- hinges- as hinges were once referred to by that name, or even some other items of ironmongery. However Manillas are referred to as such when regarding the Custos cargo as the narrative below shows-and it is the most telling evidence yet seen and is found in the West Briton 19/9/1856 Auction on St. Mary’s, 2/10/1856.

"Also among the goods reported salvaged and sold from this wreck by Francis Banfield, on the 2nd October, were “191 muskets, 2 casks of musket flints, 136 barrels of gun powder and 4 bags of Manillas.” 

As I state in the video above, all these things can be encountered on the sea bed at this wreck site.   

Bassenthwaite tokens.

 Over this nice period of weather I did a few drops on the Bassenthwaite. This is a wreck I found out by the crim in deep water a few years ago and I like to visit it from time to time to see what turns up after winter storms. It was the finding of a copper half penny token that determined the identity of this wreck and I said to my mates at the time that if I was correct, and this was indeed the Bassenthwaite, then we should find more of theses same tokens as they were being shipped over to alleviate a small currency problem in Quebec. Either that or we would locate the dies that these coins were made with- or even both those things. Sure enough I have just found some more. After doing some research I learned that there were not many of these in circulation. They were only minted in 1837 and withdrawn that same year. Collectors tell me that when these coins do turn up they tend to be well worn as a result. They are not worth much unfortunately but interesting nonetheless. Many of  ours are in perfect condition because they were never circulated but instead ended up on the sea bed where many have been preserved by the large iron cargo they are found close by. (many have not!) 

J.Shaw & co. Importers of Hardwares. Upper Town. Quebec.

This also means that we are creating history in one small way- the history above can now be pushed back by one year because the finding of these 1837 coins on a wreck that sank in 1836 means that these tokens should have gone into circulation one year earlier - had the tragedy not struck this ship by hitting the Crim reef on her way to Quebec.  I said there would be more of these tokens and I was proven correct.  This is the same wreck we found all the small bells and thimbles on. We have even found a couple of jewish harps. It was described as a very valuable cargo , however the ship sailed uninsured. Coins that were never circulated. Bells that would never ring. Harps that were never played and thimbles that never found a finger.  (All Declared to the RoW or to be so soon, even though thy never clear up my droits)

More of Shaws Tokens

A Jewish Harp stell part has rotted away.

Thimbles

Small Bells

"We just have to go again"

We have done five deep drops looking for the Royal Oak or even Romney. Both those wrecks are reported as lost in at least two very different places. Romney close to Association at the Gilstone or on the Crim & Royal Oak off Pednathise or by Gorregan.  That is assuming that any unidentified wrecks we know of nearby in the shallows of those rocks are not those two wrecks found already. We were diving what could be considered prime shipwreck country given the amount of wrecks in that area. Amazingly we saw very little in the way of wreckage but the terrain was pretty spectacular at both Pednathise and Gorregan. We only encountered bits and bobs of iron which we assumed came down from the wreck of the Antonios.  The lads would drop in on one area together then I went in on another a bit further away.  Some days I just looked after the boat as there wasnt always time for two drops. We have to do the deeper areas because the shallows have mostly been done hereabouts already. Not only that, but years ago and not far away from Pednathise, in 46m, I found intact onion bottles in deep sand and also a few coins on rocks nearby.  I also encountered items of iron wreckage but whether this was all from something as yet undiscovered, or had come down into the deep from something already found higher up  the nearby reefs and rocks, is unknown as yet. (Just for the authorites -I declared those finds to the RoW at the time of finding them.) At the time, I was retrieving lobster pots for a local fisherman friend of mine.  I dropped onto the first pot in 32meters between the Gilstone and Pednathise but the snag was further  along down in over 40meters. So I cleared it and noticed the iron bits and bobs when I got there. I then saw quite a bit of broken glass just a bit deeper so investigated that too in 46m. Here is where I found the intact onions. I was cock-a-hoop at the time but carrying them up without breaking them, while trying to decompress from that depth was quite a challenge as I didnt have a goody bag with me at the time- (didnt think I'd need one!) Keeping them intact among the caffuffle on the fishing boat afterwards was a challenge too!!. I rather suspect that the items I found were from the Association site high up on the nearby reef called Eastard ledge- I think this because the prevailing surge would push items down into deep water and this is bore out by the fact that cannons are all around  the very top of eastard ledge and down the eastern side of it in 30m along with anchors too. (It is possible that its Romney on Eastard ledge almost alongside Association which is on the nearby Gilstone ledges. Anyway I only went back to the same spot once as im getting too old to dive these depths alone any more. So I return to such places now with friends instead. However its not somewhere that can be dived easily and Pednathise is not a place for the feint of heart either. You need very calm weather,  neap tides, and at least three of us who can all go together at the same time, when the right conditions prevail. One needs to be boatman to follow the two divers. It is seldom that all these things come together at once. It was only perfect out there on just one of the days we visited the area recently. It was a tad breezy but we kept at it and got some searching done over 4 different days. We drifted all around Pednathis Head in 35+m and with some great viz we could see down to over 40m but sadly didnt find anything new thus far. We also did a couple of shallower drops at Goreggan and still no luck there either. So as I always say in my relentless searching- "we just have to go again"  The weather gods and work commitments will always dictate it tho.  There has to be more wrecks out there somewhere. Not all stay where they hit and the water gets very deep very quickly off both Pednathise & Gorregan . All one can hope is that a wreck will get stuck in a gully before it gets pushed further down and out of our reach.

 The lads about to drop in deep water off Pednathise

Nothing under there

These things can be a hindrance while trying to search!

Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Possible Keel timber 

Here are a couple of images I took today of some timbers that have come to light on the wreck of the Phoenix.  It looks like it could be a piece of  her keel timber and a couple of associated bits. The bigger bit on the left is about 9 to 12 inches wide and has a thin outer planking board running along it the same way and coming out at an angle to it- with a smaller infill timber between the two. The wood looks like it runs right underneath the ballast mound and in the image directly below you can see this as the wood disappears under the ballast guns concretion, which has formed a void between the ballast guns and the keel wood.  I checked at the other end of this tunnel to see if the timber is there too but the stones were so tightly packed there that its impossible, without greater effort of excavation, to see if the timber continues onwards but I very much doubt it and dont feel the need to excavate it to find out.  I have evidence enough. My doubt is bore out by the fact that after this tunnel ends- the other ballast guns are lower down  on the seabed than those creating the void.  

Void beneath the ballast gun mound

The timber runs the same way/direction as the ballast guns there and also runs as the site does overall,  roughly north to south, which again would fit a possible keel theory. As for relative position of this wood to the ballast mound,  its right in the middle of the main mound and at the extreme south end of the site. The whole site is about 60 meters long in total thus far that I know about. I m currently checking out numerous magnetometer hits I have further away from the main site but nothing new from the wreck has been encountered thus far.  Its hard going as being a shallow wreck there is very thick weed and items can easily be missed.    This new timber find proves that the ship itself lay here- rather than the guns having been moved to here, off the site from somewhere else nearby, by Thomas Ekins during his salvage work in 1680. This is where she fell.  As you can see in the images- this timber must have been exposed quite a bit over time, long before I found the site, as there is clear extensive torredo worm damage to it. (the big hole making kind of worm rather than the smaller gribble kind) Many of her timbers could well have ended up in the building of St Agnes Islands first original wooden church. This worm eaten keel timber could be all that is now left of this 30 gun ships actual wooden structure- and it is only just still in existence today. So I got here just in time to see it before its gone forever too. Like the proverbial Phoenix from the Ashes - Slowly the wreckage gives up its secrets to me.

Some of the ballast guns from above

 A reminder- Some of the artifacts that dated the site.