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Dorset and Isle of Wight shipwrecks given special protection

Divers found a decorated gravestone on the 13th century Mortar Wreck

Three shipwrecks, including one from the 13th Century, have been given the highest level of legal protection.

The Mortar Wreck found off the Dorset coast has become the oldest protected wreck in English waters. Its timbers date from between 1242 and 1265.

The other wrecks found off the Isle of Wight are thought to date back to the 16th and 17th Centuries respectively.

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has given them Protected Wreck status, shared by 54 sites in English waters.

Bournemouth University Cauldrons, cups, pottery and kitchen objects from the wreckBournemouth University
Cauldrons, cups, pottery and kitchen objects were found and recovered from the 13th Century Mortar Wreck

The Mortar Wreck was discovered in 2020 by diver Trevor Small in Poole Bay, along with its cargo of gothic gravestones.

Ring dating showed trees used to build it were felled during the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272).

Before it was found, there were no known wrecks of seagoing ships from the 11th to 14th Century in English waters. It is unclear why it sank.

Finds recovered included two Purbeck stone gravestone slabs with two different gothic designs, which remain in immaculate condition, two cauldrons and other kitchen objects.

Historic England The list of protected sites marked on a mapHistoric England

Tom Cousins, a maritime archaeologist at Bournemouth University, said: "Very few 750-year-old ships remain for us to be able to see today and so we are extremely lucky to have discovered an example as rare as this.

"A combination of low-oxygenated water, sand and stones has helped preserve one side of the ship, and the hull is clearly visible."

Mr Small, of Rocket Charters diving group, reported the discovery to Bournemouth University archaeologists.

"I discovered what I believed to be an undetected wreck site [after] recent storms had revealed something unknown on the seabed," he said.

"I was granted permission to dive the wreck [and] the rest is history. I've found one of the oldest shipwrecks in England."

Bournemouth University Cannon discovered off the Isle of WightBournemouth University
Several cannons were found on the ships off the Isle of Wight

While older wrecks in English waters date back to the Bronze Age, they only comprise of the remains of the cargo and no hull structure.

The new status means divers need a special licence to inspect the three wrecks and any artefacts discovered are protected.

Of the other two ships found off Shingles Bank in the Needles Channel, one may have been involved in the Battle of Portland in 1653, during the First Anglo-Dutch War.

The other is thought to be the remains of an armed merchant ship.

Both are exceptionally well-preserved and were found by divers Martin Pritchard and Dave Fox.

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