Archaeologists could be a step closer to solving the 300-year-old mystery surrounding a shipwreck off Cornwall.
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| Aerial view of Pistil Cove, near Lizard Point, Cornwall, as archaeologists could be a step closer to solving a 300-year-old shipwreck mystery [Credit: National Trust/PA] |
In November 1721, 207 sailors lost their lives in a ferocious storm when their military transport galley the Royal Anne hit rocks and sank at Lizard Point.
Just three people survived that fateful night by clinging to wreckage and among the dead was Lord Belhaven, the newly appointed Governor of Barbados.
It is believed that those who died were buried, as was customary with drowned seamen at the time, in unconsecrated ground just west of Lizard Point at Pistil Meadow.
To discover the truth, the National Trust has teamed up with archaeologists from Bournemouth University, the Maritime Archaeological Sea Trust and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society to survey the site.
Folklore has it that when nearby residents went to bury the bodies, they could not complete the grisly task within a day.
When they returned the following dawn, a pack of dogs had got there first and were tucking into a gruesome breakfast.
Even to this day it is said that dogs cower when passing through the meadow – perhaps in shame at the actions of their ancestors.
The story of Pistil Meadow fired the imaginations of later generations, with the likes of authors Daphne du Maurier and Wilkie Collins taking an interest in the tale.
Recent surveys have located a number of anomalies which could indicate mass graves at Pistil Meadow. However, these do not seem to tally with writings in the 1850s, that stated low irregular mounds chequered the surface of the field.
Jim Parry, a National Trust archaeologist, said: “Research so far has revealed a fascinating story about the Royal Anne and her crew, but it would be fantastic to be able to finally answer the question as to where her shipwreck victims were laid to rest – if Pistil is indeed the spot.
“It is an extremely rare occurrence to find such a site.”
The National Trust is working on plans for a limited excavation next summer and the information gleaned will help inform management of the site, and may allow it to be afforded legal protection as a grave.
The Royal Anne was designed by the Marquis of Carmarthen, and had been launched in 1709 as a small and speedy warship, designed to be equally at home under oar and sail so as not to be outmanoeuvred by pirates.
The wreck was found close inshore near Lizard Point by divers in the 1970s, who first located two guns, but the wreck’s identity was only clinched in the 1990s by the discovery of some silver cutlery with the Belhaven family crest.
The wreck site was protected in 1993, although the savage rocks and huge Atlantic swells mean that only a handful of objects survive. Other finds have included coins, watch parts, copper bowls and cannon shot.
Source: Press Association [September 08, 2015]
