| Summary : Remains of wreck of craft thought to be of 16th century date, from the nature of the cannon recovered in association with the site, which appears to have stranded in the vicinity of what is now Brighton Marina. Constructed of wood, she was a sailing vessel. The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 from 1983 to 2017 and de-designated in 2017, on the grounds that designation was no longer appropriate: the designated site contained a debris trail pertaining to a wreck site lying outside the protected area, which recent investigations established was no longer present. |
More information : DESIGNATED WRECK SITE - BRIGHTON MARINA
Summary:
Site and wreck of unknown 16th century armed vessel, traditionally known as the 'Black Cat Wreck' and officially known as the Brighton Marina site. The site lies between No.6 and No.17 of the west wall caisson of Brighton Marina and extends 200m to the west.
Designation History:
Statutory Instrument: October 18, 1983; 1983 No 1; 1983/1400
Protected area: An area 200m (East/West by 150m (North/South) centred on position 50 48' 36.5"N, 00 06' 29.0"W. Ordnance Survey grid co-ordinates for the corners: 1. 533370E, 103025N; 2. 533370E, 102875N;3. 533170E, 102875N; 4. 533170E, 103025N. No part of the restricted area lies above the high-water mark of ordinary spring tides. (1)(9)
Statutory Instrument 2017/773
Coming into force: 18th August 2017
This Order revokes the designation of an area adjacent to the western breakwater of Brighton Marina, known as the Brighton Marina wreck, and so designated by the Protection of Wrecks (Designation No.1) Order 1983.
Recent investigations indcate that the designated area only contained the debris trail of a wreck which lay outside the restricted area, and that evidence of that debris trail is no longer present. (7)(8)
Visit by Government Diving Contractor:
St Andrews University - Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) April 1986 - April 2003
1986, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1999
Wessex Archaeology 1st May 2003 -
Documentary History:
The nature and dating of the artefacts suggest that these are from
the wreck of a 16th century vessel.
Archaeological History:
1963: A bronze gun, now with the Tower Armouries, was recovered from the area later found in 1974. (5)
An iron cannon later identified after raising as a 16th century
wrought iron stave gun was discovered by the Black Cat Sub Aqua Club in 1974. All subsequent work on this site has been carried out by this Club. (3)
1984-1989: Pre-disturbance survey, excavation, site stabilisation and monitoring were carried out by the Isle of Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, with some work being published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. (5)
2004-2005: Geophysical survey and diving on site undertaken by Keith Clark under licence for NAS Part II. Report includes illustrations of previous artefacts recovered from the site. (6)
Environment and Archaeological Remains:
The site lies in 5 to 10 metres of water just west of Brighton Marina West Breakwater. The seabed is flat chalk with shallow gullies filled in with fine sand. A number of pieces of ordnance are known to have been recovered from this site over the period from 1974 to 1985. These include two 16th century wrought iron built stave guns, one with a stone cannon ball still in the barrel, a rare 15th century bronze hackbut and a number of breech chambers. Remains of a timber-built vessel have also been located. This is revealed only occasionally with sand movement. Distribution of these and other as yet unexplored contacts seem to lie in a line from south-west to north-east leading towards the marina wall. The whereabouts of the numerous pieces of ordnance recovered from this site is presently unknown. (2)(5)
What timbers from the site remain after 400 years underwater may now be covered by sand deposits, accrued particularly post-1963 after the construction of the marina breakwaters. There is also noticeable longshore drift which may have eroded or moved sections of the wreck material. It is also possible that some timbers were removed or overlain by the construction of the western breakwater. The magnetometer survey produced some anomalies, one of which was an intrusive wire coil. Poor weather prevented investigation of the area in which the anchor was seen in 1977. (6) |