Poole wreck gives up its treasures

On 11/04/2010
In Underwater Archeology
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17th century apothicary jar

By Diana Henderson - Daily Echo

Precious artefacts dating from the 17th century, pulled from a wreck off Poole Harbour, will be displayed at a free lecture. The Swash Channel Wreck, believed to date from the 1620s, is still revealing its treasures to divers from Bournemouth University.

The lecture RMS Titanic: Protection, Preservation & Peril at the university focuses on the famous wreck of the Titanic and how best to preserve it for future generations.

It will be given by Ole Varmer, of the US based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and will concentrate on whether the liner is in “marine peril” and if preserving it in situ is the best solution to protect it.

The lecture is organised by Paola Palma, lecturer programme leader for the university’s masters degree in Maritime Archaeology, who will speak about the Swash Channel Wreck.

Believed to be a high status ship, it lies in 7m of water, and was designated a Historic Wreck in December 2004.

Finds include at least six iron cannon, wooden barrels, rigging, copper, pewter, bones and apothecary jars and a rare wooden carving of a merman, which made headlines when it emerged from the deep in 2008.