|
ABOUT THIS MONUMENT
|
+
/
-
|
Remains of 1749 wreck of Dutch East Indiaman which was beached at Bulverhythe as the crew mutinied after grounding in Pevensey Bay during a gale. Outward-bound from the Texel to Java with a general cargo of silver, cloth, wine, stone, cannon, and paper, she was a wooden sailing vessel.
The wreck is designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, and also appears to overlie part of a prehistoric submarine forest [TQ 70 NE 5].
|
| URL: |
http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1082114
|
| MONUMENT NUMBER: |
1082114 |
COUNTY: |
EAST SUSSEX
|
| NMR NUMBER: |
TQ 70 NE 27 |
DISTRICT: |
HASTINGS |
| LAST UPDATED: |
N/A |
PARISH: |
N/A |
|
|
AREA: |
BULVERHYTHE |
|
|
STREET: |
N/A |
|
|
MARITIME LOCATION: |
Coastal Waters |
|
|
LOCATION: |
TQ 77915 08159
|
|
MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES
|
+
/
-
|
DESIGNATED WRECK SITE - AMSTERDAM
Summary:
The AMSTERDAM, a Dutch East Indiaman, ran aground on 26 January, 1749 at Bulverhythe and almost immediately sank into the soft mud and sand of the beach.
Designation History:
Statutory Instrument: No 3, 1974/57, 05-FEB-1974.
Protected Area: Within 100m radius of NG position 778083 (OS sheet 199), scale 1:50000, or position 50 50' 42"N, 00 31' 39"E excluding any part of the area which lies above the high-water mark of ordinary spring tides.
Protected area: within 100m radius of 50 50' 46.6864" N 000 31' 33.3603" E (49)
Visit by Government Diving Contractor:
University of St Andrews - Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) April 1986 - April 2003
1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999
Reports:
039, 064, 1991(12), 1994(8), 1996(27), 1999(14)(34)
Licences issued:
1978 - Excavation
1980 - Excavation
1984 - 1988 - Excavation
1996 - Excavation
1997 - Survey
Wessex Archaeology 1st May 2003
VOC - Schip Amsterdam Foundation - founded 1975
1984 members - Archaeological Director - Jerzy Gawronski
- John Adams
Conservator - Seitsko Kentie
Project Research Ass - Kick Stoppelenburg
Documentary History:
NB: Dates referred to are by the Gregorian calendar (New Style) adopted in 1752, three years after the wreck. The same date is given in Dutch sources, since the Dutch had already adopted the Gregorian Calendar. However at this date the Julian calendar (Old Style) was still in use in England, with two factors affecting dating: this calendar was 11 days behind the Gregorian calendar, and the New Year began on 25th March. As a result 26-JAN-1749 according to New Style, would have been by contempory calculation in the English Old Style 15-JAN-1748.
A Dutch East Indiaman built in 1748 and sank in January 1749 on her maiden voyage after running aground in a severe storm in Pevensey Bay and losing her rudder. The crew mutinied and instead of carrying on to Portsmouth beached the vessel at Bulverhythe, where she eventually sank up to deck level. The main reason for the mutiny was not the gale, but that 2 weeks into the voyage, 50 crew had died and 40 more were sick and dying due to some unknown disease on board. There was confrontation between officers and crew, especially when the crew broke into the wine store.
The quarter deck, poop deck and forecastle have been destroyed, the upper gun deck has been mostly destroyed but some deck beams and gun ports survive. The lower gun decks are complete. Documentary evidence of the mutiny exists and archaeological evidence in the form of poorly corked wine bottles found on the lower gun deck, showing they were in use before the wrecking, and also the discovery of two fired musket balls on the same deck. On the lower gun deck everything is in chaos with books, clothing, food remains and medical equipment all mixed up. Three guns have now been found offshore indicating the classic artefact trail before beaching.
According to source (46) this vessel was a "spiegelretourschip" or "mirror return ship" intended to constantly ply between her home port and a particular port in the East Indies. She was wrecked at Bulverhythe on 26-JAN-1749 while on her maiden voyage from the Texel to the East Indies. She carried building stones and cannon as ballast, textiles and wines as trade goods, and administrative necessities such as pens and paper, and other equipment for the VOC in the Far East, as well as 300,104 guilders. After anchoring in the Downs on the 9th of January a storm began to blow from the south-west which eventually forced her into the Channel. On the 23rd this vessel ended up in Pevensey Bay but by then she was becoming unmanageable. On the 26th she was beached in order to save lives and the valuable cargo.
Klump and the surviving crew had barely left the ship when the first plunderers arrived and the door of the captain's cabin was forced open and some more silver was stolen, to the value of 1200 English pounds and the military was called in to stop the plunder. By 11 March 1749 the VOC had given the ship up for lost. (46)
The vessel was 150 feet long with 54 guns on an upper and a lower gun deck. She also had a long quarter-deck, a short poop deck, and a forecastle. She had sailed from the Texel for Java on 08-JAN-1749 in company with five other ships, laden with 20 chests of uncoined silver, velvet cloth, and chests of wine and provisions for the 335 people on board. She was beached at Bulverhythe on 26-JAN-1749 after the crew mutinied, 50 people having already died from an unknown disease, possibly yellow fever, and 40 more sick or dying. (49)
The vessel had to contend with a south-westerly gale, which was so severe that the gunports were ordered to be closed, removing the only source of fresh air to the lower decks, and these close conditions, combined with the exhaustion brought on by battling the gale, contributed to the death toll from disease.
On January 23 the vessel grounded while seeking shelter in Pevensey Bay and lost her rudder. As the vessel was driven about helplessly, the crew mutinied and demanded that the ship be beached, and so on January 26 she came in to Bulverhythe at high tide, firing signals of distress. The distress signals attracted local people who watched the crew and passengers wade ashore.
Within 40 days the vessel had sunk as many feet into the sand. (50)
Photograph of the wreck at low tide. (51)
Photograph of one of the cannon recovered from the wreck, with the VOC logo. (52)
Photograph of some of the cutlery etc. recovered from the captain's cabin. (53)
Webpages devoted to the replica at the Nederlands Scheepvaartsmuseum. (54)
Built: 1748 (46)(49)
Where Built: Amsterdam
Master: Willem Klump (46)(49)
Crew: 203 (46)(49)
Passengers: 132 (127 soldiers, 5 other passengers) (46)(49)
Crew Lost: 50 to 90 died prior to the wreck from disease (46)(49)
Owner: Amsterdam Chamber of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) [all sources]
Armament: 54 guns (46)(49)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of loss
Archaeological History:
28-JAN-1749: A chest of silver was recovered and stored in the Customs House. (9)
1969: some bronze cannon were brought up by William Press and Son Ltd. using a mechanical excavator, (46) to prevent further damage by salvage companies searching for artefacts. (49) Dr Peter Marsden undertook a pre-disturbance survey of the site and established its identity.
1973 - 1974: Dr Marsden applied for the ship to be designated, which was succesful in February 1974.
1975: Dutch interest in the vessel increased and the VOC - Schip Amsterdam Foundation was formed to assess the feasibility of raising the hull and returning it to Amsterdam. Geological survey carried out by the Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory. (49)
1978: Excavation. Timber sampling (49)
1980: Excavation. Geological survey carried out by the Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory. (49)
1984: The Amsterdam Foundation began a programme of excavation and site protection. A U-shaped cofferdam was positioned at the seaward end of the vessel to protect it, and a diving platform installed.
Proton magnetometer survey. (49)
1985: Excavation
1986: The Archaeological Diving Unit visited the conservation and fieldworks base.
By the end of the three seasons' work excavation, recording and strengthening of the stern half of the ship down to the lower gun deck had been undertaken.
1988: The Amsterdam Foundation cancelled its proposed season of archaeological fieldwork; however the site was visited by the Archaeological Diving Unit..
1990: The Archaeological Diving Unit visited the site at low water. No archaeological work was planned by the licensee, but a large part of the diving platform was removed under Dutch supervision. The only archaeological remains that could be seen were structural elements of the sternpost at the shoreward end of the site.
AUG - SEPT 1991: A survey of the site was undertaken by the Archaeological Diving Unit at low water, and processed, giving a digital ground model. Survey of sediment levels across the site. (49)
1992: New plans for the salvage, research and public display of the AMSTERDAM were proposed by Amsterdam Foundation.
1993: A business plan for the AMSTERDAM was put forward by the Amsterdam Foundation.
JULY 1994: The site was visited on several occasions by the Archaeological Diving Unit at low water springs. The stern section was clearly visible and several timbers, including frames and the remains of a mast stump visible within the cofferdam.
MAY 1995: A survey of the site by Dr Marsden highlighted its deterioration over the years, along with the effect that new sea defences proposed by the National Rivers Authority would have on the site.
28-AUG to 02-SEPT-1996: Surveying forward of the point reached in 1986 is now underway. A chirp survey was undertaken and the monitoring of the sediment transport regime undertaken. Excavation and cleaning activities were undertaken by an Anglo-Dutch team in the removal of steelwork debris, and cleaning and surveying exposed timber structure, to monitor its future deterioration. The Archaeologinal Diving Unit visited the site during at low water during the Autumn equinox.
8-11-APR 1997: The structural survey started in 1996 was carried on and a photomosaic compiled electronically. A chirp survey was also carried out but the results were affected by the rough weather. Regular topographic surveys were also carried out to monitor sediment transportation.
30-JUL-1999: The Archaeological Diving Unit visited the site at low water to assess the condition of the cofferdam and girders. It was felt that these now were a substantial threat to the site and was having an effect on the beach sand levels.
SEP 1999: A second visit was carried out by the Archaeological Diving Unit and after the removal of marine growth the condition of the girder was not as bad as previously thought, although it was recommended that it was removed as soon as possible. (48)
A replica of this vessel was built on behalf of the Stichting Amsterdam Bouwt Oostindevaarder in 1985, by a team of 400 volunteers, and since 1990 has been moored at the Nederlands Scheepvaartsmuseum in Amsterdam. (46)
Summary of excavation: concentration on removing sediment layers disturbed by the mechanical excavator, removing stratigraphy in the stern, and strengthening the hull as deposits are removed from both inside and outside. (49)
Environmental and Archaeological Remains:
She lies on mobile beach sand over clay on a prehistoric forest bed, in the surf zone of the beach some 300 metres from the high tide mark. The tidal range is over 6 metres with an average of 8 metres at high tide. (18)
She lies with her bow facing the shore in a north-south direction.
After three seasons the excavation area has covered the full width of the ship and is 20 metres long. (18)
The structure is buried from the upper deck down on an 18 degree port list with the bow facing the shore and is intact from below the upper gun deck.
The wreck is buried in the beach 4.5 km west of Hastings, aligned NW/SE with her bows facing the shore. At mean high water the site lies in 7m depth. The wreck appears to have sunk into a thick bed of grey clay which overlies rock. Geological surveys of the site undertaken by the Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory show that the clay overlies the remains of a submarine prehistoric forest carbon-dated to 3000BC [Delft Soil Mechanics Laboratory BO-230741/45]. (49)
The ship herself is heeled over at 18 degrees to port. The surviving length of the ship from the foremost extant part of the stem to the surviving after side of the counter at the stern is 44 metres. About two-thirds of the vessel appears to survive in the beach, and it is possible to reconstruct the upper deck from the remaining deck beams and knees. However, the iron fastenings for the timbers have corroded away. (49)
Finds:
2 pieces of ribbon, 8 buttons of bone and brass, a brass stud, 10 brass furniture tacks, approximately 100 brass pins, a fragment of a brass shot gauge, 2 ceramic gaming marbles, 2 clay pipe bowls from Gouda; 2 brass buckles; a piece of shaped wood 70 x 29 x 11.5cm max, a silver fork, 14.5cm long, decorated, recovered from the beach at Bulverhythe. These appear predominantly to have been personal items and not VOC property. (Droit 159/06) (55)
Archaeologists have recovered a wide range of finds in good condition including pewter spoons, an ivory fan, wine bottles, coins, human bones, guns, clothing, animal bones along with ships' stores and barrels. Pulley blocks, clay pipes, leather shoes and a complete book along with the bones of Adrian Welgevaren, Captain Klump's cabin boy, have been found on the lower gun deck, together with the skeletons of two dogs. Dresses, petticoats and high heeled shoes, probably belonging to Pieternella Bockom Schook, were also found. A collection of the finds can be found in the Hastings Shipwreck Museum.
Many of the conserved archaeological finds were destroyed by a fire in Amsterdam but the drawings, photographs and associated documentation of those items survive.
Other Sources:
Utgravningen och barningen av den hollandandska ostindiefararen Amsterdam, Cederland. C.C, Meddelanden 8.1, 1985, pages 28 - 32
Classic boat 1993, No 60, Buried alive
Sunday Telegraph 06-OCT-1996
Guardian 20-JUN-1995, p8
Times 30-OCT-1996
Scotsman Magazine, Vol 5, No 3, June 1984, p6-8
Sunday Times 08-FEB-1970
The News 12-JUNE-1986
This site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey NMP (Component 2). It is centred on TQ 77798 08271(57).
|
SOURCE TEXT
(1) Hydrographic Office wreck index
|
(2) International journal of nautical archaeology
1971 1 Page(s)73-93
|
(3) International journal of nautical archaeology
No.2, 1978 7 Page(s)133-148
|
(4) Mariner's Mirror
No 58, 1972
|
(5) Triton
No. 1, 1970 Page(s)14-15
|
(6) Diver [incorporating Underwater World]
No.12, 1987 22 Page(s)133
|
(7) Diver [incorporating Underwater World]
No. 8, 1984 29 Page(s)14-15
|
|
|
|
|
(10) by Peter Marsden 1974 The wreck of the Amsterdam
1974
|
(11) edited by D J Blackman 1973 Marine archaeology : proceedings of the twenty third symposium of the Colston Research Society held in the University of Bristol April 4th to 8th, 1971
Colston papers 1973 23 Page(s)483-491
|
(12) University of Birmingham Archaeological Society bulletin
No 15
|
(13) Peter Marsden 1985 The wreck of the Amsterdam
1985
|
(14) K McDonald 1982 The wreck walkers guide
1985 Page(s)26-39
|
(15) J Gawronski 1985 V.O.C. Ship Amsterdam Report 1984
1985
|
(16) edited by J H G Gawronski 1986 Amsterdam Project : annual report of the VOC ship 'Amsterdam' Foundation 1985
1986
|
(17) J Gawronski 1987 V.O.C. Ship Amsterdam Report 1986
1987
|
(18) by J Gawronski 1989 East Indiaman Amsterdam
|
(19) History today
NOV-1973 Page(s)766-775
|
(20) Peter Marsden 1987 The historic shipwrecks of south-east England
1987 Page(s)23-26
|
(21) by Nicholas Thornton 1992 Sussex shipwrecks
1988 Page(s)90-97
|
|
|
(23) The Daily Telegraph
23-FEB-1970
|
(24) The Daily Telegraph
NOV-1969
|
|
|
|
|
(27) The Daily Telegraph
03-AUG-1973
|
(28) Sunday Telegraph
08-FEB-1970
|
(29) The Guardian
11-MAR-1970
|
(30) Daily express
11-MAR-1970
|
(31) London evening news
10-MAR-1970
|
(32) London evening standard
20-JAN-1970
|
(33) The Daily Telegraph
02-JUL-1972
|
(34) The Daily Telegraph
21-JUL-1972
|
(35) The Daily Telegraph
27-OCT-1972
|
(36) The Guardian
04-AUG-1969
|
(37) Antiquity Publications Limited Antiquity
1972 XLVI Page(s)198-201
|
(38) Shell world
JUNE 1984 Page(s)16-18
|
|
|
(40) Observer
07-MAR-1993
|
(41) Independent
27-JUN-1995
|
(42) Independent
30-JUN-1995
|
(43) Diver [incorporating Underwater World]
No.11, 1984 Page(s)17
|
(44) F.H. Nash, R. Swain 1984 The Voyage of the Amsterdam: 1 Shipwreck
1 Page(s)1-24
|
(45) F.H. Nash 1985 The Voyage of the Amsterdam: Rediscovery and Reclamation
2 Page(s)1-24
|
|
|
(47) Richard and Bridget Larn 1995 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 2 : Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent (Mainland), Kent (Downs), Goodwin Sands, Thames
Section 3, Sussex (BC)
|
(48) Archaeological Diving Unit Archive
|
(49) Amsterdam Site Designation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(55) Receiver of Wreck Droit
2006
|
|
|
(57) Oblique aerial photograph reference number
NMR TQ 7708/058 NMR 24981/33 06-MAY-2008
|
|
|