Image: A diver examining a chest from the Northumberland wreck (MSDS Marine)
Recent diving survey finds Stuart-era warship remarkably intact on Kent seabed despite deterioration risks from shifting sands and marine environment.
An 18th century warship currently lying on the seabed off the Kent coast has been found in ‘exceptionally good’ condition despite the high risk of deterioration.
At the wreck of the ship known as the Northumberland are chests, some of which are still to be opened, alongside iron cannons.
A Historic England-funded diving survey on the ship has now found significantly more preserved material than previously documented.
The survey, conducted in partnership with licensee Dan Pascoe and contractors MSDS Marine, found extensive hull structure, including exposed deck planks and the wooden frame of the ship.
The Protected Wreck Site was first designated in 1981, and has been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register since 2017.
Shifting sands, strong currents and wood-boring sea creatures continue to threaten the wreck’s stability, exposing more of the structure to physical, chemical and biological deterioration processes daily.
But the new survey reports that organic materials including multiple wooden decks, coils of rope on timber decking, and wooden chests have survived particularly well due to being covered by sand and seabed sediments for hundreds of years.
Additional finds on the dive include part of a wooden gun carriage, swords, muskets, and copper cauldrons. All artifacts remain in situ on the seabed.
Paul Jeffery, marine team leader at Historic England said: “The completeness of the Northumberland wreck site is remarkable. Historic England’s diving work is so important to ensure we continue to record what we can of this site. It is a race against time as more of the Northumberland wreck becomes exposed.”
The site lies between 15-20 metres deep across a large area of seabed and is monitored as part of Historic England’s ongoing fieldwork managing England’s 57 Protected Wreck Sites on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Historian Dan Snow, founder of streaming service History Hit, has produced a film about the survey work. Snow called Northumberland “THE missing link”.
“Built roughly halfway between the Mary Rose and HMS Victory, this wreck can fill in crucial details of shipbuilding and life at sea at that pivotal moment in our history. We have the Mary Rose, the ‘Tudor time capsule’, well here’s a Stuart time capsule to sit alongside it.”
