A Late-18Th-Century Merchantman Wrecked in the South Edinburgh Channel, Thames Estuary, England

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The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology (2013) 42.1: 137–149 doi: 10.1111/j.1095-9270.2012.00364.x

A Late-18th-Century Merchantman Wrecked in the South Edinburgh Channel, Thames Estuary, England

David Parham and Elizabeth Rundell School of Applied Science, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole BH12 5BB, England

Pieter van der Merwe National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich, London SE10 9NF, England

The South Edinburgh Channel wreck consists of the remains of a large, unidentiﬁed armed merchant ship whose cargo included a rare consignment of Swedish plate-money, among other goods. The wreck was lost some time in the later part of the 18th century in the Thames Estuary and was uncovered brieﬂy by natural means between 1972 and 1977. This allowed archaeological investigation, which was undertaken in very poor environmental conditions in the early days of maritime archaeology in the UK. © 2012 The Authors

Key words: post-medieval, Sweden, London, East Indies, plate-money, Long Sand.

he North Shingles Bank in the Thames Estuary, credit, invited the National Maritime Museum to send seen here in Stanier’s 1789 chart of the Thames an observer to assist in their initial diving investigation. T Estuary (Fig. 1), was first accurately surveyed by Beaufort as part of a grand survey of the coastal waters of the British Isles during his appointment as History of site investigations Hydrographer of the Navy between 1829 and 1855 This initial assessment was undertaken on 19–21 May (Courtney, 2002: 212). Subsequent surveys have shown 1975 using between two and four PLA divers in the that since this date the bank has been gradually retreat- presence of a representative from the National Mari- ing on its northern and eastern flanks. Between autumn time Museum (NMM), Pieter van der Merwe, who 1969 and spring 1974 the bank retreated some 400 m briefed the divers to look for certain constructional westwards, thereby extending the width of the adjacent and archaeological features and recorded their post- South Edinburgh Channel. In response to this the Port dive comments. The divers were deployed along a of London Authority (PLA) undertook a number of single jackstay in underwater visibility of less than surveys of the channel and in the autumn of 1972 300 mm. A number of finds were recovered and the located an obstruction 40 m long and standing 2.5 m divers reported that the obstruction was a large, par- proud of the sea-bed in 11 m of water (at Low Water tially intact wreck of an armed wooden sailing vessel, Neaps), emerging from the eastern side of the bank, which exceeded 20 m in length. On 20 May no diving 50–100 m to the west of the shipping channel (Fig. 2). was undertaken, but soundings were taken around the It was estimated that if the regression of the bank site. continued at the same rate the obstruction would have The results showed that the wreck and its cargo were become a hazard to the safe navigation of the channel of archaeological interest, but there was insufficient by 1977. The PLA is duty-bound to ensure safe navi- evidence to support an application for designation gation of the channel and therefore, before it became a under the Protection of Wrecks Act. The PLA had to hazard, the obstruction would have to be removed. An ensure safe navigation through the channel by 1977, assessment of the obstruction was urgently required in and it was considered that designation of the wreck order to decide how best to deal with it. As the area might lead to difficulties. The PLA decided that they from which the obstruction was emerging had been a would keep the NMM advised of their plans for the drying shoal for at least 150 years, the PLA considered wreck and that the two bodies would devise a method that it might well have some historic value and, to its of approaching the wreck in the best interests of both

© 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology © 2012 The Nautical Archaeology Society. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 42.1

Figure 1. Plan of the Thames Estuary by Richard Stanier, 1790 (G218:8/1). (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) archaeology and safe navigation (Minutes of meeting of her cargo (Minutes of meeting at NMM, 5 held at NMM, 28 May 1975). September 1975). Further investigations were undertaken on 4 June by On 30–31 October 1975 the PLA undertook initial a team of four PLA divers (including two from the clearance work on the site under the archaeological May team) plus David Lyon of the NMM. On this supervision of David Lyon of the NMM, who dived on occasion underwater visibility was excellent, in excess the site but was unable to undertake any recording of 18 m. The wreck was less intact than originally work owing to zero visibility (a complete black-out thought, but there was much surviving structure and where you have no perception of vision at all). The the cargo was substantially intact, despite there being PLA divers attempted to locate the two vertical posts some dispersal of artefacts at the edges of the site. All at the highest point of the wreck. Only one was found; the divers’ observations were compiled in a sketch the second was assumed to have collapsed, but was survey of the wreck, which was further enhanced with seen on later dives. A section of wreck timbers and the data from all the site investigations undertaken. This 2.4-m-long vertical post located (between the copper forms the basis of the description and site-plan (Fig. 3). pile and the anchors) were recovered to the deck of the In the light of this enhanced knowledge, and using PLA salvage vessel Crossness. The section consisted of contemporary values, it was decided that the wreck two frames (one 3.4 m and the other 2.45 m long) was not worthy of designation or large-scale excava- attached to a 5.66-m-long inboard strake. These struc- tion, as much was already known about ships of this tural elements were recorded and a section from the period. However, as the interests of navigation end of the larger frame (including a well-preserved required the removal of a substantial portion of the rebate) and the top 100 mm of the vertical post (includ- site, it was considered that a rescue investigation was ing the tenon) were sawn off and retained (both are warranted. This was to be funded by the NMM and now lost). The remainder of the material recovered was undertaken jointly by the NMM and the St Andrews then discarded. Institute of Maritime Archaeology (later the Scottish The two-week joint NMM/Institute of Maritime Institute of Maritime Studies), and would involve the Archaeology ﬁeld-season was undertaken between 23 conservation and monitoring of those items already March and 6 April 1976, the team consisting of Pieter recovered, monitoring work undertaken by the PLA van der Merwe and David Lyon from the NMM, and on the site and a two-week archaeological project to Colin Martin, Keith Muckelroy, Paula Williams record the wreck and recover a representative sample and Tony Long from St Andrews. The Royal Navy

The South Edinburgh Channel wreck was the 13th wreck to be designated as a Historic Wreck under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, on 27 May 1977 under order 1977 No1:1977/764. The protected area is a circle of 100 m radius centred on position 5131.73’, 01 14.88’E within the South Edinburgh Channel of the Thames Estuary, 10 miles north of the town of Margate in Kent (Fig. 2). Following completion of the 1976 season, eastward movement of the North Shingles Bank covered the site once more, and the PLA abandoned plans for any future clearance. Inspections by the Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) in 1988, 1995, 1997 and 1999 (ADU, 1988, 1995, 1997 and 1999) and Wessex Archaeology in 2009 (Wessex Archaeology, 2010) confirmed the position of the site by magnetometer survey. Soundings were taken of the depth of water and hence the depth of sand over the site. These visits have confirmed that no part of the site is visible above the sea-bed, and that the depth of sand over the wreck has gradually increased from 2 m in 1988, and 3 m in 1995, to 6 m in 1999, 5 m higher than it was during the investigations in the 1970s. A magnetometer survey conducted by the ADU in 1999 suggests that the site lies 50 m north-east of the centre of the designated area at 51°31.775N 001°14.79E (WGS 84). In 2009 Wessex Archaeology conducted a geophysical survey which revealed a high- Figure 2. Location map (contains Ordnance Survey data, © amplitude magnetometer anomaly of 1768nT, ‘likely Crown copyright and database right 2012); inset detail from to represent the remains of the wreck’ (Wessex Archae- Admiralty chart. (© Crown Copyright/SeaZone Solutions ology, 2010: 20), but no sea-bed surface wreckage was Ltd 2012. All Rights Reserved. Not to be Used for seen on a sidescan survey conducted at the same time, Navigation) suggesting that the wreck was still buried. This was confirmed by a parametric sonar survey, which supplied a boom-defence vessel (MFV 1256) and crew revealed 5–6 m of thick, sandy deposit on top of a to act as a diving support vessel. Vessel availability, possible strong reflector. journey time from the shore-base (Ramsgate), bad weather and zero underwater visibility meant that the season was largely ineffective. Thirteen man-dives were Description of the wreck undertaken, a few more finds recovered and lessons The site covers an area c.35 ¥ 15 m, divided into three learnt for the future. sections: north, centre and south. During the survey in Following the results of the 1976 field season, 1975 there was an apparent drop of c.3 m on the east however, on 31 December the NMM and PLA made a side of the centre section, with a deep scour to the joint application for designation of the site under the north-west of the wreck. The centre section forms the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. Two major reasons main body of the wreck, 15–20 m long and orientated were given in support of the application, namely that 10° and 120° (true). The smaller north and south sec- the cargo of Swedish plate-money was of the greatest tions appear to be heavily broken-up and scattered interest to economic historians and numismatists, and wreckage orientated 170° and 350° (true). The that archaeological investigation of the site would not minimum depth of water over the wreck was 7.3 m only provide a context for the plate-money, but would when first dived; this increased to 9.5 m following the also provide much information about the stowage and clearance operation in October 1975. make-up of the cargo of a late-18th-century merchant- The wreck lies on the then-edge of a shoal, roughly man. It was also felt that the site would make a good parallel to its west-east slope. Its northernmost test-bed for studies of the process of degradation of recorded point was in c.7 m of water, and its southern- wreck-sites from both a mechanical and a biological most in c.11–12 m. The northern point consists of a point of view, and provide areas to experiment with single iron gun and a number of timber beams protrud- techniques for low-visibility underwater archaeology. ing from the sea-bed with voids beneath them through Concern was also expressed that the plate-money which entries into the wreck up to c.900 mm high could might attract looters. be seen. One diver reported finding fabric in this area

Figure 3. Site-plan. (Rebecca Causer) which disintegrated when touched. About 7 m to the glazed stoneware. Concretions were recovered, in south the sea-bed dropped by c.2 m, revealing a single which were found a spherical-headed brass pin, two c.2.5-m-high vertical post (171 ¥ 184 mm cross-section) small cannon balls, an iron-headed hammer, remains with a tenon joint (49 mm high, 43 mm wide) on its of a copper key on a wooden matrix (gun furniture?), upper surface (recovered and recorded on the surface). cut brushwood dunnage and casts of iron nails. To the From this point the wreck could be seen to have split north-east of the transverse beam a pulley-sheave was open and consisted of a cargo mound c.2 m high, located. beneath which the collapsed outer hull could be seen. South of the anchors the mound was less visible as On both sides this consisted of frames (c.300 ¥ 245 mm the sea-bed drops away gradually over c.18 m horizon- cross-section) spaced c.300–400 mm apart, and c.37- tally to the general depth of 11 m. To the east of the mm-thick planking. On the eastern side at least there longitudinal timber lay bundles of flat iron rods, was a vertical post projecting upwards from these c.85 mm wide ¥ c.2.5 m long ¥ c.3–4 mm thick. To the frames. About 7 m south of the first vertical post west of the longitudinal timber lay bales, possibly of another similar post was situated. Between these two c.600mm2 glass panes. After c.13 m the longitudinal features lay at least four stacks of copper plate-money, timber disappeared under a mass of timberwork, each covering an area of c.1.6 m2. Directly south of this beneath which entries into the wreck could be seen. second post is a transverse ‘stout beam’ lying beneath Here there was evidence of hanging knees still support- four stacks of anchors, three tiers high, each anchor ing the deck with possible iron reinforcing. One diver measuring c.1.75 m from fluke-tip to fluke-tip. Project- reported entering a hole in this area and encountering ing from this beam for at least 14 m south was a large a bale of smooth dishes. Directly south of this were at longitudinal timber. Lying across the easternmost least three rows of round, long-necked bottles of two anchor-stack lay another iron gun, square bottles, apparent sizes, at least two tiers deep and laid horizon- fragments of pearlware, creamware and grey salt- tally with their necks to the north. Two drinking

Table 1. Details of the Swedish plate-money found on the South Edinburgh Channel wreck

Date No. of examples Monarch Reign Notes

1716 1 Karl XII 1697–1718 Stamp front and back 1717 1 Karl XII 1697–1718 1720 2 Ulrika Eleonora 1719–1720 1720 Fredrik I 1720–1771 1723 1 Fredrik I 1720–1771 1742 1 Fredrik I 1720–1771 1745 1 Fredrik I 1720–1771 1748 12 Fredrik I 1720–1771 1749 13 Fredrik I 1720–1771 Unreadable 2 Total 34

glasses were found and raised from this area. No Act of that year. The export of plate-money was recording was undertaken beyond this point, though forbidden in 1743 when the Swedish National Bank further confused areas of wreckage whose limits were began to stockpile it and, following the coinage suspen- not defined were noted. sion, the bank sold the plate-money abroad as bullion to obtain silver. This trade continued until 1812 with more that 5 000,000 daler in stamped plates exported The ship (Herbert and Tingstrom, 1999: 28), the majority before The wreck is the remains of a vessel at least 35 m long, 1800 (Sherlock, 1981: 65). Plate-money’s downfall constructed from frames of c.300 ¥ 245 mm cross- came with the introduction of paper money; a much section, their centres c.300–400 mm apart, and c.37- more convenient method of conducting transactions mm-thick planking. The centre section of the wreck (Herbert and Tingstrom, 1999: 28). has collapsed outwards, revealing, at least in part, Plate-money was made from pure copper and pro- details of its construction and the general make-up of duced in denominations of 8, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 1⁄2 daler. the cargo and its pattern of distribution, which appears Throughout its use it had intrinsic value, the weight of to be largely undisturbed. It was not clear whether the the metal equalled the denomination, and it served top layer seen was the lower hold, but given the heavy both as money and as bullion for re-use (Herbert and nature of the cargo, the presence of vertical posts, Tingstrom, 1999: 17). Coinage acts determined the interpreted here as stanchions for supporting upper weight of each plate and, until 1715, with each new act decks now collapsed, and the presence of a heavy lon- the weight of the plate was reduced, with older and gitudinal timber, possibly a keelson, this would appear heavier plates being either recycled or counter-marked to be the case. The voids beneath the timberwork at the with their new denomination. Each plate was struck north and south extremes of the recorded structure only on one side with a stamp in each corner to prevent may be areas were the ship’s orlop deck has survived. clipping and one in the centre. The corner stamps identify the name or initials of the sovereign and the year of issue, and the centre stamp gives the denomination and The finds identifies the mint or place of origin of the copper Swedish plate-coins (Fig. 4) Occasionally a stamp on the back may give The objects raised include 34 Swedish plate-coins made details of the plate’s weight or parity (Tingstrom, 1969: of flat sheets of copper c.6 mm thick, the largest and 225) (Fig 5). heaviest coinage ever produced (Table 1). The use of On the wreck plate-coins were found packed face- such coins dates back to 1624 when Sweden was to-face vertically, in groups of c.50, arranged in blocks depleted of silver as a result of reparations paid to c.1.2–1.8 m2, of which four were observed under good Denmark following defeat in the 1611–1613 Kalmar visibility in 1975. Some scattering had occurred but War. Sweden’s only contemporary resource was where still packed the plates were in good condition, copper, a metal in which it is rich. In the 1620s they those scattered being relatively more abraded and cor- turned this surplus into low-denomination coinage roded. All of the 34 recovered were of 2 daler denomi- which allowed them to make up the shortfall of silver nation, c.200 mm2, and weighing c.1.8 kg. Their dates and to control the supply, and hence the price, of and associated sovereign are noted in Table 1. Of par- copper. More than 44,000 tons of coins were struck ticular rarity is the 1716 coin which is stamped front between 1644 and 1759 when large-scale minting and back. By the end of Karl XII’s reign the crown stopped. The coins remained in circulation until 1776 needed to raise cash, so tokens were issued and when they were suspended as currency by the Coinage attempts made to exchange money in circulation in

Figure 4. Plate money; a) NMM REL0665 (clipped-corner plate, dated 1723) front; (b) NMM REL0655 (unclipped plate, dated 1720), front central stamp and (c) front corner stamp. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) silver and copper plates for ‘necessity’ money. As the in the 19th century, cargo was brought ashore from large plates were not exchanged sufficiently for the ships in the roadstead in small boats, and these finds tokens, in 1717 it was decided to reduce the value of may represent the loss of such a boat (Herbert and those not redeemed by a certain date. In the spring Tingstrom, 1999: 29). The Nicobar, a ship of the of 1718 these were counter-stamped with the Lion of Danish Asiatic Company (Dansk Asiatisk Kompagni), Göta. That autumn the same plates were counter- wrecked in June 1783 off Quoin Point, South Africa, stamped on the reverse with the Three Crowns (Ting- had a cargo which included 5000 plates (Herbert and strom, 1969: 19). The South Edinburgh Channel site’s Tingstrom, 1999: 137). The Ernst Schimmelmann, also collection of plate-money represents an unusual sur- of the Danish Asiatic Company, was lost in 1781 on vival of this currency. Examples of the various stamps Cape Verde en route to China. Finds from salvage are reproduced in Figure 6. conducted in 1999 included 846 copper plates (Arqueo- Outside Sweden the plates were never considered as nautas Worldwide, 2009). currency and were always treated as copper bullion for In addition to the South Edinburgh Channel wreck, re-use (Herbert and Tingstrom, 1999: 22). The plates the UK has two other maritime finds of copper plate- were popular as ingots as they were easy to handle, money: three plates found on Orford Ness beach, known for their purity and of a guaranteed weight Suffolk, in 1913, with dates between 1711 and 1716, (Herbert and Tingstrom, 1999: 31). A considerable now in Ipswich Museum (Sherlock, 1981: 63) and a number of them were purchased by the English, Dutch single plate ‘washed up with others’ from a wreck at and Danish East India companies for export to the Felixstowe (Sherlock, 1981: 65). East Indies in the latter part of the 18th century (Ting- strom, 1969: 28) and a number that may have been Iron guns associated with this trade have been found. Three guns have been seen on the site. The first found, For example, 60 plates have been dredged from which was lying across the eastern anchor stack, was Madras harbour with the possible remains of a small recorded in detail. It was c.1.6 m long, c.270 mm diam- wooden boat. Prior to the construction of the harbour eter at the breech, 170 mm diameter at the muzzle, and

Figure 5. Plate money, NMM REL0634. a) front; b) back; c) front, central stamp; d) stamp on back; e) front, ‘extra’ stamp, in shape of a shield; f) front, corner stamp. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK)

Figure 6. Plate-money, three examples of stamps: scale in cm. a) NMM REL0643 (1748) centre and b) corner. c) NMM REL0659 (1717) centre. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) had an internal muzzle diameter of c.100 mm. The two say, they were ‘strips’ rather than ‘bars’). They are cannon balls recovered were found adjacent to this gun. highly corroded with no distinctive surviving ends or any evident producer’s stamp. Chris Salter of the Iron bars Material Based Archaeology Group at Oxford Univer- A number of fragments of iron bars were recovered sity considers that they may well have been steel, but and were conserved in 1975. They measured c.2.5 m the conservation process may have removed the evi- long and c.85 mm wide and c.3 mm thick (that is to dence which could have conﬁrmed this.

Figure 7. Lead cloth seal, ZBA0441. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) Figure 8. Bottle, NMM REL0683. The bottle is c.25cm tall. Lead cloth-seal (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) A single large, four-disc lead seal was found (NMM REL0441) (Fig. 7) with a trace of gilding and a cast Bottles device of a conventional VEIC (United East India A small sample was recovered of the many bottles seen Company) mark in a heart-shaped surround with a (Fig. 8). The majority are dark green and of standard 4-shaped finial. This is a cloth-seal used to mark bolts form, 850–860 ml capacity, with an applied collar at of English woollen cloth for export to the Far East by the top and a pushed-in base, of a type regularly used the London-based ‘Honourable East India Company’ for wine. The string rims of the collar are usually more (HEIC), as it was generally known. A number of these rounded on French bottles and angular on the English have been found at wreck sites of broadly similar date versions, though there is probably some overlap in this (for example, Egan 1990, fig. 3 right, shows a similar, detail (Van den Bossche, 2001: 97). The sample fea- large VEIC seal, one of several from the 1805 wreck of tures both types, but the majority seem on balance to the Earl of Abergavenny). There was a trade in heavy be English. One (NMM REL0683) has a double and woollens to India and China around the turn of the rounded collar, while others (NMM REL0628–30, 19th century and this object is a rare find in the UK as REL0632) have single, angular collars. They presum- most were transported to the East. It is the find most ably represent a cargo of wine. immediately connected with trade from this wreck. One bottle (NMM REL0683) retained its original However, as an isolated item, it is not possible to say contents, which had lost much of their colour. There whether it was part of a larger consignment or a was a dark reddish-black sediment of precipitated remnant from an earlier voyage. tannins and pigments which would account for the pale red colour. It is recognizable as wine and was probably Mollusca shell a table wine as opposed to a fortified wine. The sample The Mollusca shell recovered from a concretion is was found to be 17.2% proof (9.9% v/v) compared with Cypraea moneta Linnaeus, the ‘money cowrie’, widely normal table wines today of 10–15% v/v. It had few used as currency across the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean bacteria, no yeasts and a good deal of debris/fibrous and western Pacific, and also to a lesser extent in material as it was produced before the widespread use Africa, the near East and south-eastern Europe. of filtration. Gas chromatographic analysis, which

Figure 10. Pearlware tureen, NMM REL0676. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) Figure 9. Tumbler (NMM REL0679) and stem of glass their upper surfaces. Pearlware was developed c.1780, (NMM REL0680). (© National Maritime Museum, Green- and quickly became very popular and continued in wich, UK) production well into the 19th century. There are four sherds, dating to c.1780–1810, from a tureen with blue measures the flowering substances formed during the shell-edge decoration in the Rococo style and under- fermentation process, showed results very similar to glaze blue painted decoration on top of the one surviv- wines produced today. The sample showed a sodium ing simple, looped handle (Fig. 10). Both creamware content of 2240 parts per million (ppm). Wine usually and pearlware were serviceable, fashionable and widely contains 20–40 ppm of sodium, while seawater con- available wares which would have belonged to the tains 10,500 ppm. This suggests that the sample was ship’s officers or passengers rather than the crew. The contaminated by about 20% seawater through a crack presence of knife-cuts on the plates demonstrates in the punt of the bottle. It produced a sewage-like objects in use as on-board utensils or in personal smell when opened and was not tasted, but a faint baggage rather than items of cargo. fruity blackcurrant odour was also detected, described In addition to the English-made tablewares, four as claret. small sherds of Chinese export porcelain tea-wares In addition there were two bases of square case- were recovered. All are decorated in blue and white bottles (NMM REL0672, REL0675), probably for and one has a Batavian brown external glaze. spirits, perhaps gin. It is difficult to say whether these Although dating is difficult from such small fragments, were part of a larger consignment within the cargo or they were probably made in the mid-to-late 18th represent the crew’s personal property. century. If they represent vessels in use on board rather than cargo, which seems likely, then these sherds also Drinking glasses show that good-quality ceramics were available to the Two pieces of drinking glasses were recovered from the officers and that some, at least, were accustomed to site (Fig. 9). The first (NMM REL0680) is a colourless taking tea. One sherd of grey salt-glazed stoneware broken stem and base of a medium-weight, cut wine- may have come from a selzer bottle, of the kind made glass; the stem is moulded with six facets and it has a in the Rhineland for bottled mineral waters. Overall, hand-blown foot (71 mm diameter). The second the date of deposition of the collected ceramics can be (NMM REL0679) was a 95-mm-high colourless given as c.1780–1800. tumbler with slightly flared sides and a 14.5-mm-high cut floral device repeated around the top. It has a rim Gun furniture diameter of 81 mm and a base diameter of 60 mm. It Also found, in concretions, were a brass trigger-guard has been dated to c.1780 and it emits a ringing tone (NMM REL0444) of bulbous-finial type with no hole when struck. for sling-swivels, a flat sideplate with tail (NMM ZBA0444) which is faintly marked with the name of Ceramics J[onathan] BUTTALL, a known London maker, the The small number of sherds recovered consist mainly butt-plate (NMM ZBA0443) of the handrail-tang, and of vessels from dinner services in creamware and pearl- an end ramrod pipe (NMM ZBA0445) (Fig. 11). These ware. Twenty creamware dinner-plate sherds were would all fit a sea-service musket of c.1771–1818 found on the site, all of which have the typical pale- (Harding, 1997: 265). It should be noted that Buttall is cream glaze perfected by Josiah Wedgwood in the not recorded as a supplier to the HEIC. 1760s. One has the impressed mark ‘Wedgwood’ in a form used by the factory between c.1759 and 1769 Other finds (Godden, 1991: 657). These plates show clear signs of Other finds include a copper-alloy pin or needle-point regular and robust use in the form of knife-cuts across and a copper-alloy spigot (NMM ZBA0439) (Fig. 12)

(probably ebony or lignum vitae), with inlaid organic decoration set in what looks like lead or tin.

Historical research The lead cloth-seal provides a tantalizing link with the English East India Company. The nature of the cargo present on the wreck suggests an outward- rather than inward-bound vessel. The finds so far suggest a late- 18th or early 19th century date for the wreck. The East India Company records identify only three vessels wrecked in the Thames Estuary while outward-bound during this period, all en route to Madras: the Admiral Gardner, 816 tons, lost 25 January 1809 on the Goodwin Sands; the Britannia, 1273 tons, lost 25 Figure 12. Copper-alloy spigot, NMM ZBA0439. (© January 1809 on the Goodwin Sands; and the Hin- National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) dostan, 1518 tons, lost 11 January 1803 on Wedge Sand, Queen’s Channel, Margate Roads. All three with a relatively plain, bi-lobed tap with two round have been located some distance from the South Edin- holes and no evident maker’s stamp (the practice had burgh Channel. probably ceased by this time, pers. comm. G. Egan). There was a plain, wooden rounded-bar tool-handle The Swedish connection (NMM REL0633) with an iron wedge used to retain It has been suggested (Fenwick and Gale, 1998: 78) the main metal part which is represented by concretion that the ‘best fit’ for the South Edinburgh Channel (most lost through corrosion): it was probably a wreck was an unidentified ship, sailing under the hammer. Also recovered was a wooden razor-handle Swedish flag, noted as having been wrecked on Long (NMM ZBA0440) (Fig. 13) of a hard, organic material Sands (the large Thames Estuary shoal within which

Figure 13. Wooden razor handle, NMM ZBA0440. (© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) the South Edinburgh Channel lies) on 16 October 1787 were loaded for the return voyage to Sweden (Lloyds List no 1925, 26 October 1787). (Johansen, 1992: 484–5; pers. comm. Göran Ekberg, The Swedish East India Company was active from 2008, Archaeological Unit, National Maritime 1731 to 1813 trading to China and other places east of Museum, Stockholm). The English East India the Cape of Good Hope, usually via the north-about Company purchased Swedish iron through Andrew route around the north of Scotland, then to Cadiz to and Charles Lindegren, naturalized merchants based in purchase silver which was the only acceptable payment Upper Thames Street, London and later through for goods, and then to the East. Records in the India various other London firms (Bowen, 2002: 480–81). Office at the British Library contain a reference to the This iron then formed part of cargoes sent to Madras Swedish East India Company involving a revision of and China. the rules applied to them, confirming that Swedish East India Company ships were transporting goods to English ports (Minutes of Court, B/136, 1802–03). Discussion During its operations the Company embarked on 127 The size of the South Edinburgh Channel wreck, of voyages. Most of the documentation from this period which a length of at least 35 m of hull survives, indi- was burned by the management of the Company, cating a burden of more than 1000 tons, suggests a reputedly to conceal the enormous size of the profits. large armed merchantman. East Indiamen ranged Kjellbergs (1974) lists eight Swedish East Indiamen from 400 tons in the mid-18th century to 1200 tons or lost; the only one in the English Channel being the more by the end of the century. Other trade routes did Drottning Sophia Magdalena, lost on 27 October 1801, not need or could not afford such big ships and, inbound to Sweden from Canton (pers. comm. H. without oriental manpower, would have been hard- Havner 2008, Gothenburg University Library). This pressed to man them (Bovill, 1950: 246), suggesting ship can be eliminated as the South Edinburgh that this wreck may have been engaged in trade to the Channel wreck because the nature of the cargo found East. suggests an outward-bound vessel. The finds assemblage is too limited to suggest any The history of the relationship between the Swedish particular route, much less any specific destination. iron-making trade and its English counterpart is well The iron bars were almost certainly components of the documented, with a steady stream of Swedish metal- last cargo, but this is far less certain for the textile lurgists visiting England from the latter part of the 17th represented by the single cloth-seal with all its specific century and throughout the 18th century (Birch, 1955). indication of an exotic destination in the Far East. The In the 18th century, Sweden was one of the world’s Swedish plate-money (the most precisely dated of all major suppliers of iron, largely in bar form, which it the finds) was probably a further metal component of exported to Western Europe. Not surprisingly, the cargo as copper ingots. The assemblage is signifi- England, in practical terms the only country where the cant for its rarity and is a major maritime find. age of mechanical power had got under way by the While the round wine bottles are likely to represent late-18th century, was taking the greatest share of Swe- some of the cargo (as their stowage in crates implies) den’s iron exports at this time (Rice, 1965: 88–9). this is less certain for the square bottles recovered. The The success of the Swedish merchant marine in the spigot, which is plain, like the majority in use at this second half of the 18th century, during which it more time, could have been set in a ship’s water-barrel. The than doubled its tonnage, was brought about in part as tool-handle and the needle-point probably also repre- a result of British involvement in the American War of sent implements for routine use on board. The gun Independence, which made the export of bulky com- furnishings (one with the stamp of a known London modities to western Europe possible, and a protection- maker) suggest a shipboard rather than land use, but ist policy determined to maintain exports of the give no unequivocal indication of a military milieu, and country’s rich natural resources in Swedish vessels. may well represent the usual complement of weapons Swedish ships passing west through the sound between needed to protect any commercial vessel. Elsinore and Helsingborg in 1787 alone totalled more The small number of ceramic sherds mainly repre- than 110,000 tons. The route of the larger merchant sent dinner services in creamware and pearlware. Both vessels was outward to Britain, the Netherlands or serviceable and elegant, their popularity boosted by France, then in ballast to a southerly port, where goods royal and aristocratic patronage, they were the ceramic

© 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology © 2012 The Nautical Archaeology Society 147 NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, 42.1 of choice for the dinner table during the mid-to-late sites would be found in similar conditions, and it was 18th century. The plates show clear signs of regular use felt that experience of relatively high-visibility sites was and it is therefore probable that they were for use on of little use in a world of darkness, shifting sand and the ship rather than carried as cargo. In addition to the unstable wreckage. The PLA approach to investigation English-made tablewares, four small sherds of (as described above) was seen as the best way forward Chinese-export porcelain tea-wares were recovered. If if these conditions were to be overcome (McGrail and they represent objects in use on board ship rather than van der Merwe, 1976). cargo, which seems likely, they show that good-quality ceramics were available to the officers or passengers and that some at least were accustomed to taking tea. Conclusion Archaeological studies of the use of Chinese-export The evidence that this ship was heading out from porcelain (Hume, 1982; Staniforth, 1995; Staniforth London bound for the East Indies is compelling, if not and Nash, 1998; Elkin et al., 2007) suggest that by the conclusive. Iron bars, anchors and Swedish plate late-18th century the use of porcelain in Europe had money are known to be regular components of export spread to groups of lower socio-economic status. cargoes during this period but might equally have been Although the ware was therefore not necessarily a imported to London for later transport to the East. luxury item, it served to reinforce British identity and The wine bottles could represent part of a cargo or, in status in the world (Staniforth, 2003: 48; Dellino, 2004: common with the ceramics and glassware, personal 116). property to be consumed and used to make a long, The few glass vessels may well have belonged to the tedious voyage more bearable. The tantalizing evi- officers or passengers; the tumbler is ornamented dence of one lead cloth-seal, indicative of an English enough to raise it above the everyday. The razor- export cargo, was not recorded from a secure context handle, an unusual example and probably of an exotic and therefore cannot be definitely assigned to the wood, might have been acquired somewhere beyond wreck. Europe (pers. comm. G. Egan). The surviving historical records of the English East The site’s discovery and investigation occurred India Company do not offer a likely candidate among almost 40 years ago, at the very beginnings of maritime outgoing vessels lost in the Thames Estuary. archaeology in the United Kingdom. Prior to the dis- However, the iron bars and anchors are recognised covery of the site, all excavated underwater archaeo- export goods from Göteborg to London and point to logical wrecks in the UK were in conditions of at least a Swedish origin for the ship. From London, the ship moderate visibility. While the discipline has moved on, may have been set to visit other more southerly it is worth noting the thoughts of those involved at the ports in Europe which were also involved in trade time: with Sweden in this period, and the plate-money may Difficult tides and zero visibility made conventional have been destined for another port. We can not dis- methods of survey impractical, especially since much of count a Swedish origin purely on the evidence of the wreck and its cargo stands hazardously proud of the English finds from the wreck, as items such as the seabed. All that was achieved from an archaeological Wedgewood china was widely exported at this time to point of view was to confirm the results of the PLA’s many countries as far afield as Russia and North excellent preliminary survey . . . the site serves to remind America, and it is reasonable to assume that it would us that many of the best preserved wrecks are likely to be have been available in Sweden through the estab- the most difficult to work on. Experience gained on this lished trade relationship with London (pers. comm. J. site has generated new thinking on the development of Pearce). By the same token, the presence of the techniques to deal with such sites (St Andrews Institute of cowrie shell does not rule out an English vessel, as the Maritime Archaeology Newsletter 1976). shell was most likely from the Indian or Pacific Ocean Work on site required the techniques used by clear- and ships of both countries sailed through the Indian ance divers rather than those developed in Mediterra- Ocean. nean underwater archaeology. This suggested that the It is, therefore, possible to make a case for the vessel way forward lay in the use of electronic aids such as being English or Swedish, outbound or inbound. echo-sounders and sidescan sonar to map the site ini- Unless further archaeological investigation takes tially and to allow a survey grid to be laid from the place, which seems highly unlikely at this juncture, an diving vessel. It was recognised that other important educated guess is all that can be made.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank: PLA Diving Inspector A. Bradley, and divers R. Adkins, E. Grey, J. Hanson, R. C. Healy and Mr Woodcott; Lt Cdr J. White (PLA Hydrographic Officer), V. Heasman (PLA Senior Surveyor), E. Hobday (PLA Surveyor), Capt. D. Roberts (PLA Salvage & Services Officer) and his assistant K. Murray; Royal Navy Flag Officer Medway, and Lt S. Green and the crew of MFV 1256. Thanks are also due to T. Cousins, M. Dover and E. Rundle, colleagues at Bournemouth University; D. Lyon and S. McGrail, colleagues at the National Maritime Museum; J. Berry (MAST), M. Dean (Archaeological

Diving Unit), G. Egan and J. Pearce (Museum of London), K. M. Way (Natural History Museum) and International Distillers & Vintners Ltd. (now part of Diageo Scotland plc). The publication of this work was made possible by a Caird Short-Term Research Fellowship from the National Maritime Museum.

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