British wrecks will be examined

The National Heritage Institute has announced that 88 wrecks along the British coastline dating back to before 1840 will be thoroughly surveyed. This will determine which of these vessels will join the 47 already included in the programme to protect them from unauthorised exploration.

-- Advertisement --

The whole task rests on the shoulders of a group of archaeologists who will collect research documentation on the sunken vessels. The reports summarising their work will be sent to the desk at the National Heritage Institute in England, and on this basis, the classification of individual objects will be carried out.

Only when we have a precise picture of what lies beneath the surface of the water, will it be decided which shipwrecks (and whether there are any at all) represent a high enough historical value to be given special protection. Appropriate motions on this matter are to be addressed to the government already in the autumn.

The Protection of Wrecks Act, passed in 1973, allows government bodies to give special protection to finds lying on the seabed, in order to protect the special value of the finds from uncontrolled exploration and consequent robbery.

Among the wrecks to be looked at more closely by archaeologists are vessels such as the Forfashire, the barge ‘Mersey flat’ and the probable wreck of the ship Tudor, located near Walney Island.

Source: english-heritage.org.uk