'Stirling Castle' wreck reveals wealth of maritime history at risk

 A rare 17th century 49 hundredweight Prince Rupert patent gun, retrieved from the Stirling Castle, King Charles II’s great 70-gun man o’war, was put on public display today at Ramsgate Maritime Museum. It marks the launch of a major national consultation paper Protecting our Marine Historic Environment: Making the System Work Better published jointly by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Executive, the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland and English Heritage.

Heritage Minister, Andrew McIntosh said: "The marine historic environment is part of our heritage and our identity. The seas around Britain contain a wealth of shipwrecks, archaeological sites and other remains. They are also the setting for much economic activity on which we all depend - such as fishing, aggregate extraction, communications and energy creation, as well as being places of beauty, and to enjoy in our leisure time.

 "It is time to update the systems we currently have in place to protect this unique and irreplaceable heritage. The rules surrounding the discovery and ownership of different finds and sites can be complex and unclear. There may also be more effective ways of managing these sites, which both better protect the sites and also take account of all the other activities taking place in the sea and on the seabed. "This consultation paper contains suggestions for change, which we hope will bprovide benefits to all stakeholders through more simplicity, more flexibility, more openness and greater rigour. We want to stimulate debate and hear everybody's views. That's why we are inviting all those involved in the sector to contribute, as well as members of the public who enjoy our national marine heritage. We hope that as a result of this process we will create a better system for protecting the marine historic assets that make this country's heritage so unique."

David Miles, Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage said, "The archaeology beneath the UK’s coastal waters has provided some of the most exciting discoveries of our age. Ships like the Stirling Castle are time capsules, which provide a fascinating window on the past. This gun, the only one of its kind, and other poignant finds from the Stirling Castle, illustrate the enormous wealth of human history to be found around our coast and under the sea."

The wreck of the Stirling Castle demonstrates the complexity of issues surrounding underwater sites. She foundered in the Great Storm of 1703 on the infamous Goodwin Sands just off the Ramsgate coast. The Goodwins are known as the ships’ graveyard holding over 2,800 wrecks, representative of probably the greatest concentration of shipwrecks in the world lying off our shores. Yet only 56 registered sites exist in the whole of the UK under the 1973 Protection of Wrecks Act.

Often diving conditions are hazardous and wrecks can only be accessed at specific times of the year. In the case of the Stirling Castle, the 180 ft long, 1114 ton war ship is slowly disintegrating as the sands, which once preserved it, are shifted away by currents. Divers are recording the ship and have recovered artefacts that include a sailor’s hat, pottery, shoes, clothing and navigation instruments, all providing a fascinating insight into the lives of sailors who perished when the ship sank.

When the gun and its carriage were revealed by the sands a swift decision was made to rescue them before they were lost in a storm. In a careful operation with agreement from the DCMS and English Heritage and with Heritage Lottery funding in place to conserve the objects, the wreck Licensee Robert Peacock and his diving team raised the gun and its carriage.

Research has now revealed that the Rupertino gun was one of only eight delivered by the gun maker Thomas Westerne in 1690. The ship had been fitted out with the latest technology and belonged to the massive new fleet to restore Britain as the world’s greatest naval power.

Designed by Prince Rupert a nephew of Charles I, its highly advanced iron metallurgy gave it a massive firepower of 32 pounds, which could cause devastating damage to other ships. Their high cost and a tendency for the larger guns to crack has meant that only smaller versions have survived on land.

Michael Cates, Director of Museums, East Kent Maritime Trust said, "At the time we were focused on the rarity of the wooden gun carriage and we had no idea how special the gun was. We are really delighted that we managed to save it. Diving conditions are very difficult with less than one metre visibility, so it was vital to get the agreement to raise the gun before weather conditions worsened and the ship became more unstable. We are delighted that the Mary Rose Archaeology Services are conserving the gun on our behalf with funds from HLF and support from Thanet District Council."

The consultation document can either be accessed by calling 020 7211 2357 or through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s website: www.culture.gov.uk. A series of seminars on the consultation paper will be held across England by English Heritage.