Identifying the Flower of Ugie
In order to complete the identification of the vessel, it was important for the characteristics of the vessel to be fully understood. This was done by careful survey of all of the remains, so that their location and size could be recorded. At the same time, important features such as the type of material used to fix the vessel together were also recorded. Both the wooden structure and the fastenings were also sampled and analysed to discover the exact material composition of them. This information helps the dating of the wreck, which allows a more precise identification to be made.
The wreck remains can be divided into three areas; a western section of hull remains, a second (eastern) section of hull remains some 23m to the east and a central area of scattered remains mainly comprising concreted elements and further wooden remains. All of the frames and planks of the vessel were built from wood, mainly Oak, Elm and Ebony. These wooden pieces were fixed together with wooden treenails (bolts) and metal bolts made from copper and brass. The vessel's wooden structure was also reinforced with iron knees. Fragments of brass sheathing (called yellow-metal) indicated that the outside of the vessel's hull was sheathed in that material. All of these results indicated that the vessel was built and used between about 1820 and 1860, the mixture of materials further suggested that the vessel had been refitted and repaired during the course of its life.
The detailed characterisation of the wreck remains resulting from the archaeological survey and specialist analysis allowed a general set of characteristics of the wreck to drawn up;
- The vessel is built of wood, reinforced with iron framing elements.
- The absence of mechanical propulsion elements or any significant armament indicate that the vessel was a sailing merchant ship.
- The hull is fastened using treenails as well as copper and brass bolts.
- The copper bolts are likely to have been manufactured within the UK between the mid-1820's and before 1850.
- The brass bolts are likely to have been produced during, or after, the late 1840's.
- The outside of the hull is sheathed in Muntz Metal, this can only have been applied to the hull after 1832, when this material was first patented. Analysis of recovered sheathing suggests that it dates to the late 1840's, or later.
- The vessel was probably at least 30m in length.
These characteristics were then compared with shipwreck losses recorded by the NMR, Hampshire Sites and Monuments Record, Isle of Wight Sites and Monuments Record, UK Hydrographic Office (via Seazone Hydrospatial) and the Receiver of Wreck within 10km of the wreck site. These comprised;
- 303 losses that do not have a known seabed location, only a named location (NLO).
- 77 losses that do have a known seabed location.
- Six seabed obstructions were noted within 1km of the site.
This comparison allowed the majority of the losses to be disregarded because they did not fit with the observed characteristics of the wreck. This left five vessels that required more detailed analysis; Colonist (sank 1837), Hopewell (1838), Flower of Ugie (1852), Eastern Monarch (1859) and Egbert (1867). Following consideration of their date of use, size, material composition and sinking location it became clear that the remains visible on the wreck site correlated closely with the Flower of Ugie, a barque, built in Sunderland, in 1852. Subsequent additional historical research into this vessel further confirmed this conclusion. Once the identification of the vessel was known, it was then possible to begin to research the career of the vessel between its Building and Wrecking.