Church Rocks
Country: England, United Kingdom
Place: Church Rocks reef, near Teignmouth, Devon
Type: Disputed; variously proposed as a trading galley, a round ship, or a zabra (see History of the shipwreck)
Identified: Not identified by name
Dated: Last quarter of the sixteenth century; terminus post quem ca. 1582-1601, based on the tenure of Venetian gun founder Sigismondo Alberghetti II
Keel Length: A 5.75 m keel fragment survives
History of the shipwreck
A snorkeler swimming along the coast at Church Rocks located a Venetian bronze saker sticking out of the sand in 1975, after a season of winter storms scoured the area. Two more bronze cannons were retrieved the following year, and the site was given protected status in 1977 under the guidelines of the 1973 Protection of Wrecks Act (Preece et al. 2004, 99-101).
Excavations in 1979 located further artifacts, including ship fasteners, a wrought iron breech block, tools, and the pintle for a stern rudder. Additional items, including three more bronze cannons, a few ceramics, and a portion of the ship's hull, were located in 1982 (Preece and Burton 1993, 257).
The Archaeological Diving Unit at the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland, initiated renewed fieldwork between 1990 and 1994. Only in 1992 were excavators able to revisit the timbers found in 1982, uncovering a few more associated items (Preece et al. 2004, 109-10).
The bronze cannons were likely cast by the Venetian gun founder Sigismondo Alberghetti II, chief founder at Venice between 1582 and 1601; owing to the limited finds from the wreck, this earlier date is also the terminus post quem for the site (Tomalin et al. 1988, 79-80, 3-4; Dudley 1989, 268). At least one of the swivel cannons recovered includes imagery of the lion of Saint Mark, a well-known personification of the Venetian Republic (Preece and Burton 1993, 261-4).
Based on the limited hull remains and small collection of finds, the type of vessel represented remains open to question. The artifacts, including the Venetian bronze cannons, and the lack of treenails in the hull assembly, suggest a late sixteenth-century Mediterranean vessel (Preece and Burton 1993, 265). The uncertainty stems from whether the hull represents a longship or a round ship, depending on how the surviving material is evaluated. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England lists the ship as a trading galley, owing to the historically recorded armament for these vessels (Preece et al. 2004, 115; Wildman 2019, 2). Doug McElvogue argues that the short stealers in the stern assembly are indicative of a sharp change in the hull, suggesting a reduced length-to-breadth ratio typically associated with round ships (Preece et al. 2004, 117). The Teign Heritage Center, which displays many of the recovered artifacts, instead proposes the wreck might be similar to a small zabra, a hybrid type combining traits of longships and round ships, used as service vessels in fleets from the second quarter of the sixteenth century onward (Center n.d., accessed 13 Sept. 2020; Casado Soto 1988, 133, fig. 8).
Description of the site
The wreck lies on the Church Rocks reef, near Teignmouth, Devon, in the south of England.
Cargo
Excavators recovered a caulking pot, kitchen ware, tools, a merchant seal used to brand wooden containers, and a steelyard. Limited ceramic finds include sherds associated with an incendiary weapon known as a firepot (Preece et al. 2004, 104-9).
Two pieces of a Wan Li porcelain bowl helped date the site to the last quarter of the sixteenth century. A fragment of a blue tin-glazed decorated sherd of Italian ware and a piece of orange earthenware identified as Portuguese terra sigillata suggest elite personnel or merchants traveling on board the ship (Preece et al. 2004, 109, 112).
Hull Remains
The only major piece of ship architecture recorded is the bottom of the stern assembly, found in 1982 and documented a decade later (Preece and Burton 1993, 259).
Keel
The 5.75 m keel fragment is the longest piece of surviving structure, measuring 35 cm molded and an estimated 55 cm sided; this measurement does not appear to correlate with the site plan, which suggests the broken forward end of the keel was roughly 24 cm deep. A rabbet extends along the top of the keel where the garboard is inserted (Preece et al. 2004, 116-7).
Sternpost
Concretion still attached to the hull prevented gathering further information, such as how the sternpost connects to the keel. Information from the 1992 survey indicates the sternpost is angled 70°, though the site plan suggests a slightly different 68.5° angle. A separate outer post is attached to the after face; this after post may also be a portion of the rudder, as archaeologists acknowledge the concretion in this area might encapsulate a lower gudgeon-pintle assembly (Preece et al. 2004, 117).
Planking
Three strakes of planking survive, each fastened with two or three iron nails per frame station, while several larger bulbous concretions suggest horizontal bolts also connected the planks to the frame underneath. Poor diving conditions in 1993 prevented the recording of cross sections or the internal framing (Preece et al. 2004, 114).
Caulking
Not described beyond the recovery of a caulking pot from the site (Preece et al. 2004, 104-9).
Size and scantlings
Keel fragment: 5.75 m long, 35 cm molded, estimated 55 cm sided (though the site plan suggests the broken forward end was roughly 24 cm deep). Sternpost angle: 70° (site plan suggests 68.5°).
References
Preece, C., et al., 2004. “Church Rocks”
Preece, C., and Burton, [initial not given], 1993.
Tomalin, D., et al., 1988.
Dudley, [initial not given], 1989.
Wildman, [initial not given], 2019.
Teign Heritage Center, n.d. Accessed 13 September 2020, https://www.teignheritage.org.uk/index.php/the-church-rocks-wreck;
Casado Soto, J. L., 1988.