Museum - The Northumberland wreck

A colour corrected orthophotomosaic of a group of three guns, probably associated from the main gundeck.

Episode 2 from the 2018 Northumberland wreck investigations finds #cannon, #rigging, copper cauldrons and strange concretion conglomerates. With MSDS Marine Ltd Bournemouth University Maritime Archaeology Historic England Mark James Dan Pascoe Tom Harrison Tom Cousins Douglas McElvogue https://youtu.be/r6hT6qrlxiw

Excited about the new diving season ahead and finding out which parts of the site have uncovered since our last dives. Hopefully lots of new updates to follow in 2020. In the meantime watch episode 1 of 4 highlighting the 2018 diving investigations with Pascoe Archaeology, MSDS Marine Ltd, Bournemouth University Maritime Archaeology, Neptune dive charters, which was funded by Historic England https://youtu.be/190tXsekT-M

Here is a link to a photogrammetry model of a gun carriage recovered from the wreck of the Stirling Castle. It mounted a demi-cannon which was located on the main gundeck on the Stilrling's port quarter. It was saved from the wreck by Robert Peacock and his team in 2000. There will be carriages just like this one surviving on the wreck Northumberland. https://youtu.be/7gF1JUBy9ds

Two multi-beam echo sounder surveys, conducted a year apart, illustrate just how mobile the seabed is around the site. The wreck is currently located on the very edge of a sand bank that is steadily moving eastwards. This sandbank consists or sand dunes migrating in a northeasterly direction. This trend is causing the wreck to become more exposed and therefore under threat. The edge of the sandbank in the northern area of the site moved 120m northeast revealing several gunlike anomalies. These will be diver ground-truthed to confirm. Historic England funded Pascoe Archaeology to conduct these surveys with @MSDSMarine Mark James

On this day in 1703 the captain of the Shrewsbury and his ship were riding it out in the Downs having survived the Great Storm. The Mary, Restoration, Stirling Castle and the Northumberland, however, were missing. They had been driven onto the Goodwin Sands. The Northumberland was wrecked without a trace or a single survivor.

This is how the site appeared in 2018, but how will it look in 2019? If the sands continue to migrate to the east then it is highly likely more archaeology will appear. Another multi-beam survey would be an ideal way to record and monitor the changes to the site and the dynamics of the local sand waves. With Dan Pascoe MSDS Marine Ltd Tom Cousins Tom Harrison

Gun 3 has turned out to be potentially quite interesting. Firstly, it has the partial remains of two cheeks of the carriage surviving. This is surprising in itself as the gun is at the top of the wrecks stratigraphy and, therefore, nearly always exposed. This, however, demonstrates the high potential for guns and their associated carriages to survive beneath the sand. Secondly, the length of the gun suggests it is one of four Culverin chasers. The Northumberland probably carr...ied her chase guns at the stern on the main gundeck. They would have been kept in the broadside position and moved to the stern ports when needed. The Culverins were 11ft long from muzzle to basering. Gun 1 with the concretion is just over 9.5 ft and the size of it's girth suggest it is one of her Demi-cannon. The three guns are most likely to originate from the main gundeck and the structure surviving beneath is also likely to be associated with the level of the main gundeck. With Dan Pascoe Tom Cousins Douglas McElvogue Mark James Keith Clark Kim Knight Robert Peacock See more

A pile of swords were found on site. A fragment was broken by the snagging of fishing gear. This fragment was recovered. There were three blades with a composite sheath of wood and leather. Since recover they have been X-rayed by Historic England. The surprise was five buttons in almost a perfect line. Could this be from the uniform of one of the crew? It will now be carefully examined to see if any textiles survive and if there are any emblems on the button. The assemblage was recorded photogrammetrically, scaled and georeferenced onto the multibeam. Dan Pascoe MSDS Marine Ltd Bournemouth University Maritime Archaeology Tom Harrison Tom Cousins Douglas McElvogue Robert Peacock Keith Clark Kim Knight Angela Middleton

A group of pulley sheaves concreted together next to the larger conglomerate of concretions. Also surveyed photogrammetrically, scaled, georeferenced and positioned onto the multi-beam bathymetry. Underwater photos Michael Pitts. With Dan Pascoe MSDS Marine Ltd Tom Harrison Tom Cousins Bournemouth University Maritime ArchaeologyRobert Peacock Douglas McElvogue Kim Knight Keith Clark

At the southern end of the site is a large upstanding feature. This is the highest point of the wreck and it consists of a conglomerate of concreted artefacts and structure. Mixed in are pulley sheaves, lead scuppers, barrels, iron shot and lots of unrecognisable concretions. This area was surveyed photogrammetrically, scaled and georeferenced onto the current multi-beam bathymetry. With Dan Pascoe MSDS Marine Ltd Tom Harrison Tom Cousins Bournemouth University Maritime Archaeology Keith Clark Douglas McElvogue Kim Knight Robert Peacock

During the diving fieldwork we used the rapid recording technique of photogrammetry to record exposed archaeological features. Below is a survey of three cannon, which has been processed, scaled, geo-referenced and draped over the multi-beam bathymetry image of the main wreck mound. This is the first step in building the most current and update plan of the wreck. Thanks to all the team who made the results possible Mark James Tom Cousins Tom Harrison Douglas McElvogue Keith Clark Kim Knight Brian Robinson MSDS Marine Ltd Dan Pascoe and Michael Pitts Robert Peacock Rodrigo Ortiz