The Princes Channel wreck, also known as the Gresham Ship is an Elizabethan shipwreck (c. 1574) that was discovered in the Princes Channel in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. It was discovered by the

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

in 2004 during a dredging operation to remove obstructions that posed hazards and impeded navigation during low tides (Auer, J. and Firth, A.).

Archaeological remains

20% of the wreck was recovered and lifted from the Thames Estuary, excavated and recovered by

Wessex Archaeology Wessex Archaeology is a British company that provides archaeological and heritage services, as well as being an educational charity. Apart from advice and consultancy, it also does fieldwork and publishes research on the sites it surveys. The comp ...

. It was then taken to

Horsea Island Horsea Island was an island located off the northern shore of Portsmouth Harbour, England; gradually subsumed by reclamation, it is now connected to the mainland. Horsea falls within the city of Portsmouth and was wholly owned by the Ministr ...

, an estuarine lake near

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

so it could be preserved. A five-year research project ("The Gresham Ship Project"), was carried out from 2007 to 2012 by researchers from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and the

University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. The university offers a number of joint programmes in ...

. The project focused on five large sections of the hull that had been recovered, as well as associated artefacts. The hull timbers are now a major exhibit at the UK National Dive Centre at

Stoney Cove Stoney Cove is a large flooded quarry which is a popular inland scuba diving site, located between Stoney Stanton and Broughton Astley in Leicestershire, England. Background Stoney Cove was originally a granite quarry dating back to the beginni ...

. The design and construction of the Princes Channel Wreck is of Archaeological significance, as it appears to have been rebuilt using the method of

furring In construction, furring (furring strips) are strips of wood or other material applied to a structure to level or raise the surface, to prevent dampness, to make space for insulation, to level and resurface ceilings or walls, or to increase the be ...

, which allowed the vessel to gain about 1 foot in width on each side. The rebuilding may have been necessary if the ship was crank-sided.

Naming

There has been debate as to the preliminary naming of the wreck, as it was found in the Princes Channel at the mouth of the Thames estuary. However the more popular name of Gresham Ship was introduced when the guns on board the vessel revealed a grasshopper insignia, which was the motif made by

Sir Thomas Gresham Sir Thomas Gresham the Elder (; c. 151921 November 1579), was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 G ...

, founder of the Royal Exchange.

References

*Auer, J. and Firth, A. (2007). The Gresham Ship: an interim report on a 16th –century wreck from Princes Channel, Thames Estuary. Post-Medieval Archaeology. Vol 41, 222- 41. *Perrin, W. G. (1929-1930). Botelerʼs Dialogues. London: Navy Record Society Vol. LXV. Perrin, W.G. (Ed.) (1918). The Autobiography of Phineas Pett. London: Navy Records Society. *Manwaring G. E. & Perrin W. G. (Ed.) (1922). The Life and works of Sir Henry Mainwaring. Volume II: The Seamanʼs Dictionary. London: Navy Records Society, Vol. LVI. *Wagstaffe, Cate. 2010. Furring in the light of 16th century ship design. MA thesis, SDU: Esbjerg.

External links

*
Online Exhibition

High-Resolution interactive 3D model of ship remains created by the Nautical Archaeology Society and the Maritime Archaeology Trust
{{Authority control Shipwrecks of the River Thames 16th-century ships Archaeology of shipwrecks Underwater archaeological sites