Studland Bay Protected Wrecksite

English Heritage MRTM summaries. 2003/2004

The Studland Bay wreck lies in 12 m of water just outside Poole Harbour on the south coast of England and is believed to be that of a lightly armed Spanish merchant vessel of c. 1520- 30. If The site was designated as a Historic Wreck under the United Kingdom's Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 on 27th November 1984 and is the 6th oldest shipwreck site is be designated in this way. Archaeological work conducted on the site, which spanned nine seasons between 1984 and 1992, constitutes the second largest, after the Mary Rose, underwater excavation in England.

Excavation on the site prematurely ceased in 1992 when funded to Poole Museum was reduced and plans for publication were terminated in 1998 when funding for the project ceased entirely. Work on both sites has been dormant since then but in 2003 English Heritage commission Bournemouth University to, in conjunction with Poole Museum, undertake the publication of the work on the site.

The wreck was discovered in January 1984 when Poole Fisherman Gerry Randle snagged his fishing gear on an unidentified seabed obstruction. Members of Hamworthy Sub-Aqua Club helped him free his gear and found that the obstruction was a large timber structure with associated small finds such as pottery and concretion. This discovery was reported to Poole Museum.

Fieldwork undertaken on the site by the Poole Maritime Trust and later the Poole Bay Archaeological Research Group under the direction of Poole Museums whose staff learn to dive specifically to undertake work on the site. Archaeological directional was provided initially by the Museum's Archaeology Officer, the late Ian Horsey and his successor Keith Jarvis, also of Poole Museum.

Three areas of wreckage were excavated: Area One (starboard side of the hull timbers), Area Two (keel and floor timbers) and Area Three (ordnance and finds). Hull remains present on the site consists of the entire length of the carvel-built starboard side, 22.5 m long and 3-5 m wide. The vessel's construction is strikingly similar to the Basque Red Bay vessel and may have built the Basque region. The hull remains are one of the largest, if not the largest surviving hull section of an early oceanic vessel.

Finds from the site include a wrought iron gun, possibly the earliest from an archaeological context in the UK, breech blocks, the walnut foot and leather flapper of a pump, three welted shoes, rare examples of straw matting, boxwood combs, an ointment canister, a beech book cover, oak cask components and pottery which includes an important group of Seville lustreware.

This page was published on 14/05/2004