Royal Wreck To Stay In Norfolk?

So read the sign outside the newsagents last week. And it wasn't anything to do with Prince Andrew visiting Sandringham - rather it was reference to the announcement of the discovery of the wreck of HMS Gloucester off the coast of Yarmouth.

This is such a fabulous story. In 2002 I read "The Unequalled Self" - Claire Tomalin's prize winning, entertaining biography of diarist Samuel Pepys. She tells how in 1682 Pepys was invited to travel with James, Duke Of York [brother of Charles II] to Scotland by boat. Pepys suffered from seasickness, and found James' boat overcrowded with courtiers, so he moved himself to The Royal Yacht Katherine, a half empty ship travelling alongside. James' ship, the Gloucester, ran aground off the Norfolk coast. The heir to the throne survived, along with John Churchill- but 250 souls were lost at sea. I've seen the picture "The Wreck of the Gloucester" In the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. 

That's 2002 - twenty years ago. Last week it was announced that the wreck of HMS Gloucester had been found by divers on the seabed off Yarmouth. That's exciting - but what is amazing is that the divers who found it made their discovery fifteen years ago and it has been kept very hush-hush for all that time. Brothers Lincoln and Julian Barnwell, two Norfolk printers and amateur divers, discovered the ship with a friend, James Little.

They have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds funding their dives, and buying a suitable boat to carry equipment and artefacts. This week they said it was a relief to be able to speak about it all at last. They spoke of the moment they found the ship's bell, confirming it really was the royal ship. "We stood there together, realising that we were the first people in 340 years to see that bell, the only people in the world who knew where it was"

The brothers are printers, based in Aylsham, Four generations of the family have produced printed materials - including tide tables, and lists of shipwrecks. These lists were what started the brothers on the diving adventures. They dive all over the world - including the Galapagos Islands [where they do much to support the islands environmental charity] but Norfolk is home, and where it all began. So, back to the HMS Gloucester...

So many amazing artefacts have been recovered, connected to this time period, and specifically to James [who became king James II a few years later] The brothers have worked closely with University of East Anglia, to ensure the clothes, weaponry, wine bottles, pottery and more have been correctly identified and preserved. Lord Dannatt, deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk, and former head of the armed forces [and an altogether jolly good chap imho] is heading up a charity to protect the wreck and its artefacts.[Some of which bear the crest of the Legge family, George Washington's forbears]

People have compared this discovery to that of The Mary Rose, which sank off the Isle Of Wight in 1545, was found in 1971 and raised in 1982. But nobody is sure how cohesive the structure is, it may just be scattered timbers on the seabed and it is possible a similar salvage operation would be impossible. But the actual sinking had a much greater effect on our nation's history even though the majority of people had not heard of the wreck until last week.

It had to be kept a secret all this time because of the location of the wreck, and to prevent unscrupulous treasure seekers ransacking the site. But now it has all gone public "Such a relief to be able to talk about it now- it is always in the back of your mind" said one of the brothers. I'm really excited by this discovery - and so pleased that the treasures are going to be on display in Norwich Castle next year. UEA/Norfolk Museums have already released a video...