Gull Rock site

What is known about the Gull Rock wreck site?

This wreck site is a bit of a mystery, though it is arguably Lundy’s most important wreck site and certainly its oldest. However, it’s not even known for sure if it is the site of an actual shipwreck.

The site lies off the east coast of Lundy in the vicinity of Gull Rock. Its approximate position is marked on the Zoning Scheme map. The protection area extends for a radius of 100 m from the centre of the site.

The site was first discovered in 1968 by John Shaw (a commercial diver who worked alongside Don Shiers on the construction of the Thames Barrier), who came across a number of artefacts scattered on the seabed at about 24 – 30 m depth, close to where the bedrock reef meets the sediment sea floor. The artefacts he found comprised some stone cannonballs (made of limestone) embedded in the sediment together with an iron cannon. All were well hidden by overlying silt and sediment and the location of the site remained a secret until 1983 when John followed up his earlier investigations with a pre-disturbance survey. Four of the 5 in. diameter cannonballs were raised for identification (they now reside in Greenock Museum near Glasgow) and research work began on trying to discover how old the artefacts might be and what vessel they might have come from.

In 1989, a full survey of the site was undertaken by the Archaeological Diving Unit from St Andrews University. They found that the armaments at the site dated from the 15^th or 16^th centuries and consisted of two wrought iron cannons, a breech gun and eight stone cannonballs. The presumption is that the items are all that remains of an armed vessel or warship that foundered; research has found that a Genoese carrack was wrecked on Lundy in 1418. However, as no obvious accompanying wreckage has been found, it has been speculated that these items may have been jettisoned from a ship.

These items were recognised as being of marine archaeological significance and the site was designated as a Protected Wreck on 12^th February 1990, coming into force on 14^th March 1990 . Sadly by 1999, when a re-survey of the site was undertaken by John Heath and members of the Appledore Sub-Aqua Club, some of the cannonballs and the breech gun had gone missing from the site and the remaining cannon was found to have been damaged.

This occurrence highlights the dilemma of adding any shipwreck to the protected list, especially one in a remote location. By designating a site, its position is advertised to one and all (even though it may be fairly vague) and immediately there is a risk of illegal (non-licensed) “explorations” taking place, with the consequent possibility of important artefacts disappearing.

A group of volunteer divers inspected the site in June 1995 and undertook a marine biological survey of the site (see Irving, Holt & Moss 1995 in the Bibliography.

The latest official survey of the site in 2004 by Wessex Archaeology, acting in their capacity as the Government's archaeological contractor, found the broken gun, the cannon and possibly one stone cannon ball at the site.

Most recently, a 3-D photogrammetry survey of the Gull Rock site was undertaken by Tim Clements in June 2022 at the start of the MPA’s Marine Festival, the results of which can be seen below.

Composite photograph of the Gull Rock site (obtained from merging ? photogrammetric images taken by Tim Clements in June 2022). Note the cannon (shown in photographs on the RH side of this page) lies close to the inside angle of the white, right-angle scale measure.

The following timeline is taken from Daykin-Iliopoulos P. & Cousins T. 2013. Gull Rock Wreck & Iona II licensee site report. Bournemouth Underwater Marine Archaeological Diving Society. BSAC Expeditions report (listed in the Bibliography).

The following site timeline was initially compiled by Wessex Archaeology (2009 p3) and details the work completed by all organisations since the Gull Rock site’s discovery. The timeline has since been adapted to include the work completed by Bournemouth Underwater Marine Archaeological Diving Society.

1968: Site discovered by commercial diver John Shaw.

1983: Site relocated dive concession operator John Shaw, fifteen years after the initial discovery.

1989: Site dived by Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU), who observed stone shot and a wrought iron gun. The ADU also detected a ‘significant magnetic anomaly’ 60 metres east of exposed material.

14th March 1990: Site designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act (1973).

1992: Site dived by ADU, who observed concretion in the approximate shape of a small pickaxe. No other items seen.

1993: Site dived by ADU, who observed previously reported broken iron gun and stone shot. The gun’s position is said to be 175 metres from the summit of Gull Rock during a pre-disturbance survey by John Heath.

1994: Request to lift gun for identification and dating purposes refused. Favoured option was to record the gun on the seabed.

1995: Team of Marine Conservation Society volunteer divers (led by Robert Irving together with John Heath as a guide) record the marine life colonising the site.

1997: John Heath reported damage to broken gun, namely that a 0.1 metre section was missing from the rim, exposing iron beneath. The impression gained was that a diver had tried to find out the material of the gun underneath the concretion.

1999: John Heath informed Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that stone shot had been taken from the site and of the possibility that a breach gun may also have been taken.

2000: Site visited by John Heath. Only three stone shot were visible and the broken gun had become encrusted with marine life.

2002: Sidescan sonar and magnetometer survey carried out by ADU.

2004: Wessex Archaeology undertook non-intrusive diver survey to establish the presence and position of archaeological material.

2008: Wessex Archaeology undertook magnetometer survey. No objects were found in the vicinity which might be interpreted as originated from a shipwreck of the 15th or 16th centuries.

2010-2: Bournemouth Underwater Marine Archaeological Diving society (BUMAD) undertake desk-based assessment of the site.

2013: BUMAD society undertake a 5-day survey of the Gull Rock Wreck Site.