The wreck of the ‘London’

They have been mapping the ship and discovering and retrieving a series of objects such as musket shot and ingots as well as ship fixtures and fittings including a hand-made glass cabin window, tools and personal items including pewter spoons, coins and navigational dividers.

Mark Dunkley, Maritime Archaeologist at English Heritage said: “There are still five dives to go but what we have confirmed so far is that the well preserved and vulnerable remains of the wreck of the London are consistent with the historical records that she did in fact blow up.”

Steve Webster, Project Manager at Cotswold Archaeology said: “This two year project is the only ongoing excavation on an underwater wreck in England at the present time and the artefacts that we can recover may be similar in scope to those recovered from the Mary Rose, but 120 years later in date. This will allow us to better understand a whole range of changes that occurred between the first half of the 16th century and the second half of the 17th century, a period that saw the expansion of Britain’s sea power and marks the start of the British Empire.”

The London was one of only three completed wooden Second Rate ‘Large Ships’ that were built between1642 – 1660 and is the only one that survives.

English Heritage commissioned Cotswold Archaeology to carry out this underwater excavation in order to find out just how much archaeological material survives. Divers are excavating three trenches in the bow of the wreck, designed to explore archaeological remains in the hold, the orlop deck where the anchor cables are, the main gun deck as well as carpenter and boatswains store rooms which would have contained tools and timber stores.

The London was rediscovered in 2005 during works in advance of the London Gateway Port development in Thurrock, Essex. In October 2008, it was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973) and immediately placed on English Heritage’s Heritage at Risk register as its fragile archaeological remains were being exposed by shifting sediment levels on the seabed.

By Jake Frith