The
Seaton Shipwreck
An exceptional chance maritime
find, proving to be the most substantially intact
wooden shipwreck yet discovered on the North-East
coast of England.
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On the morning of Wednesday 4th August 1996,
Mr Derek Hodgson and Mr Joe Howey discovered
the remains of an old sailing ship on Seaton
Carew beach, which were uncovered due to a combination
of local tide and weather patterns brought about
by a recent storm. Upon contacting Tees Archaeology,
staff from the section immediately visited the
site to establish the extent, condition and position
of the wreck.
The
vessel is located at the southern end of the village
of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool on the north-east
coast of England. The wreck lies approximately
half way between the High and Low water marks,
lying upright with the bow facing shoreward and
the stern pointing towards the sea.
Map Reference NZ 530 290.
Following this initial visit and subsequent
conversations with Mr Hodgson and Mr Howey, it
was found that the wreck had been exposed some
three or four days earlier and that the site
was now slowly refilling with sand. It was decided
therefore, to contact volunteers from a recently
established ‘Rapid Response Register’,
a joint project set up by Tees Archaeology in
conjunction with the Northern Region Nautical
Archaeology Society, to assist Tees Archaeology
staff in recording the wreck before it was lost
once again to the sands.
A brief initial survey was conducted ahead of
the incoming tide and this identified the vessel
as measuring 25 metres long and 7 metres broad.
A significant number of frames were exposed all
of which were treenail fastened. Treenails are
typically cylindrical oak pins driven through
the planks and timbers of a vessel to fasten
or connect them together. The positions and orientation
of the exposed frames indicated that the surviving
structure of the vessel was substantially intact.
From the initial inspection, it seemed likely
that this wreck of a medium sized, wooden coastal
trading vessel, could well be that of a ‘collier
brig’ with a date thought to be late 18th
or early 19th century. Towards the end of the
18th century, the Industrial Revolution in Great
Britain heralded a dramatic increase in demand
for coal. Meeting this demand required a large
number of vessels to transport the coal from
the major coalfields of the North to London and
the Continent. These vessels were generically
referred to as ‘colliers’ or ‘collier
brigs’. These vessels were extremely seaworthy
and were used by Captain James Cook on many of
his expeditions.
It was assessed that, with the vessel likely
to disappear beneath the sands as quickly as
it appeared, a more detailed survey should be
undertaken immediately. The full survey began
the following day on 5th September 1996. The
half tide position of the wreck, allowed a working
tidal-window of between five and six hours a
day. The same tidal and weather patterns that
had initially exposed the wreck continued to
affect the site conditions during the entire
survey period.
The vessel had clearly either been driven ashore
by bad weather, or deliberately run aground,
perhaps as a last resort to save the lives of
the crew. The survey revealed that several port
side quarter frames were missing which may indicate
damage from a collision at sea leading ultimately
to the vessel coming ashore, though perhaps more
likely, these frames were removed during the
salvage operations that clearly took place following
the wreck. The salvage operators in the Hartlepool
area regularly advertised the sale of timber,
stores, materials and cargo from the many wrecks
that occurred there.
The
Seaton Carew Wreck is an exceptional maritime
find, proving to be the most substantially intact
wooden shipwreck yet discovered on the North-east
coast of England. As a measure of the local and
national importance of this wreck it was given
Historic Wreck Designation in August 1996 and
is one of only two such designated vessel between
The Wash and the Orkneys. The site continues to
be regularly monitored by Tees Archaeology.
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