Over the last two years Cotswold Archaeology has been working on the wreck of the London, an important 17th century warship lying in the Thames Estuary. The shipwreck is actively eroding and our project involves the excavation of material at risk on the Protected Wreck site. Our work last year included the excavation of evaluation trenches on the London site, conducted by a team of divers including Dan Pascoe (Lead Archaeologist, Pascoe Archaeology Services) and Mark James (Diving Contractor, MSDS Marine) who dived alongside the licencee team, Steve Ellis, Carol Ellis and Steve Meddle. For this year’s work, professional divers Mark Hobbs and Steve Kent also joined the team.
Diver enters the water
The 2014 evaluation resulted in the discovery of a fantastic array of well-preserved finds and a complete gun carriage. Frequent diving on the wreck site by the licencee team which followed the evaluation showed that the gun carriage was at risk from erosion, and so we returned to site this year in order to raise the gun carriage from the seabed to save it from further deterioration.
Work began on Sunday 9th August. The team of divers, working from the boat Jumbo run by Predator Charters Marine Ltd, started work on excavating the area around the gun carriage. The small area excavated produced masses of finds, perfectly demonstrating the ideal preservation conditions provided by the estuary silts. Large timbers to fragile glass vessels were brought up from the seabed on the first day.
A base off a glass vessel
The second day of diving revealed yet more finds, including large numbers of linstocks, used for lighting the cannon. Many were complete and in pristine condition, while others had singe marks suggesting use. Other artefacts associated with the gun carriage were also recovered from the seabed, such as tampions, used to plug the muzzle of the gun, and fragments of hand sticks, used to move the heavy cannon. Rope was also recovered, in a fantastic state of preservation.
A selection of the linstocks found during this dive session
Over the week more and more finds were recovered, providing fascinating and detailed glimpses into 17th century warship life, and in particular giving insights into the use of the gun carriage. In addition to remains of the gun tackle, a wooden shoe sole was also recovered, as was a decorated tile. Around 140 finds were recovered during this week’s dive session. The team worked late into the nights to recover the finds at risk from erosion and loss, and to prepare the gun carriage for lifting.
Night Dive- The team worked late into the night to recover the fragile artefacts and gun carriage from the seabed
By Tuesday the excavations had exposed the gun carriage fully on the seabed. Work then started on securing strops around the carriage, weighing over a ton, for recovery to the surface. The divers secured the gun carriage, and attached the strops to Jumbo’s crane ready for lifting. Then the lifting began.
The gun carriage emerges from the Thames
The gun carriage was craned slowly onto the deck, and was rapidly investigated by the team before we covered the carriage over and started the continuous process of watering the object, to stop deterioration.
 The gun carriage on deck |
 The dive team and boat crew pose with the gun carriage following its successful recovery from the seabed |
The gun carriage was craned ashore on Wednesday 12th August, amid a frenzy of media attention.
Steve Ellis, the London’s licencee, guides the axle of the gun carriage on to shore
Construction then began on a bespoke wooden crate to allow the gun carriage to be transported for conservation with York Archaeological Trust. The crate was designed to provide full support for the heavy and fragile object, which was wrapped in layers of capillary matting and covered over with plastic sheeting to keep the gun carriage wet, and deterioration at bay. The gun carriage was picked up on Thursday morning and began its journey to York, where it will begin its long process of conservation.
 The dive team construct a custom-made transportation box for the gun carriage |
 The gun carriage leaves for York |
