Marine environmental assessment of the Royal Anne galley

English Heritage MRTM summaries. 2005/2006

EH Project Number:	3688DT
Funded Unit:	Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council

English Heritage has commissioned the Historic Environment Service (Projects), Cornwall County Council, and a team of specialists, including Penzance-based maritime archaeologist Kevin Camidge, to carry out a Phase 1 desk-based assessment of the Royal Anne Galley, a protected wreck lying in about 5 metres of seawater off the Lizard Point.

The Royal Anne Galley was a fifth-rate galley frigate with an armament of 42 guns was wrecked on the Stags rocks on 10 November 1721 while on voyage to the Barbados. There were only three survivors out of some 200 passengers and crew. The most notable of those who perished was John, 3rd Lord Belhaven and Stenton, who was going to take up the Governorship of Barbados.

There were less than ten galleys classified as such in the Royal Navy. Originating in the 1670s, they were an attempt to combine the advantages of sail and oar propulsion and first intended to counter Barbary Corsairs in the Western Mediterranean.  On her launch in June 1709 the Royal Anne Galley was described as ‘a new invention under the direction of the Marquis of Carmarthen…being the finest that was ever built’.

The site of the wreck was discovered by local diver Rob Sherratt in 1991.  Since then over 400 artefacts, including iron cannon, cannon balls and coins, have been recovered from the site as well as pieces of cutlery bearing Lord Belhaven’s crest, a bridled nag’s head, and motto ‘Ride through’. In 1993 the wreck was designated under the 1973 Protection of Historic Shipwrecks Act. Contemporary newspaper accounts suggest that the ship struck rocks twice, breaking up after the second impact and the assessment will include the nearby ’Quadrant’ non-designated wreck site which may in fact be the stern of the Royal Anne.

This project is the first Marine Environmental Assessment (MEA) of a protected wreck to be commissioned, the objectives are to: assess the broad archaeological and environmental context of the site and collate available sources and information including existing fieldwork results and archival material;  discuss and evaluate potential marine environmental methods; establish the material type and extent of the site, assess the archaeological potential  of the site and establish a strategy for further assessment.

It is intended that the MEA will form one of the stages of a series of initiatives that will lead to the development of archaeological management plans for designated wreck sites that will inform English Heritage’s future research, amenity and education developments for the benefit of the wider community.

The project is now in its early stages and will result in a report to English Heritage in March 2006. Depending on the results, it could be followed by underwater survey (Phase 2) and monitoring over a 5 year period (Phase 3).

This page was published on 15/11/2005