Yarmouth Roads Wreck
This historic wreck was first discovered in 1984 during an archaeological survey of the seabed off Yarmouth. Initially only a few centimetres of timber was showing, but three pewter plates found associated with the wreckage dated to the 16 th Century. It was soon realised that this was an important site and the wreck was designated as a Protected Wreck site. The site is marked by a large yellow buoy, visible east of Yarmouth Pier.
Archaeological investigation followed, this included survey and excavation. The project team included a mixture of professional and volunteer archaeologists. Their work began to reveal more about the ship structure and the finds associated with the wreck.
Excavating the site during the 1980's
Exactly how much of the ship remains buried within the seabed sediments is unknown. The trenches excavated revealed that substantial timbers survive, especially around the stern. However, towards the centre of the site the hard clay seabed rises up and has meant that less of the ship survives here. By carefully choosing where to excavate research questions about the site could be answered. This work has revealed that the Yarmouth Roads Wreck was once a thirty metre long ship, which was a large vessel for the 16th century.
Substantial timbers were revealed during the excavation