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Rare Elizabethan Ship Discovered At Quarry 300 Metres From The Coast

maximus otter

Recovering policeman
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In April 2022, a team from CEMEX unexpectedly uncovered the remains of a rare Elizabethan-era ship, while dredging for aggregates at a quarry on the Dungeness headland, in Kent. Found some 300 metres from the coast, the discovery stumped the quarry team, who contacted our experts to study the remains.

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Very few English-built 16th-century vessels survive, making this a rare discovery from what was a fascinating period in the history of seafaring.

Over 100 timbers from the ship's hull were recovered, with dendrochronological analysis, funded by Historic England, dating the timbers that built the ship to between 1558 and 1580 and confirming it was made of English oak. This places the ship at a transitional period in Northern European ship construction. When ships are believed to have moved from a traditional clinker construction (as seen in Viking vessels) to frame-first-built ships (as recorded here), where the internal framing is built first and flush-laid planking is later added to the frames to create a smooth outer hull. This technique is similar to what was used on the Mary Rose.

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Although uncovered 300 metres from the sea in what is today a quarry, experts believe the site would have once been on the coastline, and that the ship either wrecked on the shingle headland or was discarded at the end of its useful life.

Once our work is complete the timbers will be reburied in the quarry lake where they were uncovered so that the silt can continue to preserve the remains.

https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/news/rare-elizabethan-ship-discovered-quarry-300-metres-coast

maximus otter
 
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