The Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (c. 33) is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
which provides protection for designated
shipwrecks
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
.
Section 1 of the act provides for wrecks to be designated because of historical, archaeological or artistic value. Section 2 provides for designation of dangerous sites. Wreck sites must have a known location in order to be designated. Designated wrecks are marked on
admiralty charts
Admiralty charts are nautical charts issued by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and subject to Crown Copyright. Over 3,500 Standard Nautical Charts (SNCs) and 14,000 Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) are available with the Admira ...
and their physical location is sometimes marked by means of a buoy (
sea mark
A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage that identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard, or administrative area to allow boats, ships, and seaplanes to navigate safely.
Th ...
). Information boards are often provided at nearby launch points on land.
Wrecks designated by virtue of historical, archaeological or artistic value
It is a criminal offence to interfere with a wreck designated under section 1 of the act without a licence. Navigation, angling and bathing are permitted provided this will not interfere with the wreck. A licence is required to dive at the wreck site. Separate licences are required for any disturbance, such as recovery of
artifacts or underwater
excavation. Licences to survey, visit etc. can be obtained by applying online to
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
, to
Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...
, and
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...
.
Anchoring on the wreck site is also not permitted except in accordance with licensed activities. The area designated may extend beyond the visible remains.
Designation and licensing under section 1 of the act is managed by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
,
Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...
and
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...
.
The first wreck to be designated was the
Cattewater Wreck
Cattewater Wreck is a wooden three-masted, skeleton-built vessel, one of many ships that have wrecked in Cattewater, Plymouth Sound, England. This wreck is close to the entrance of Sutton Harbour, its name is still unknown but it is believed to ...
at
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, in 1973. As of July 2007 there were 60 wreck sites under current protection under section 1 of the act. Two sites that had at some point been designated have subsequently been revoked.
Identifying protected wreck sites
All protected wrecks are listed in the annual Admiralty Notices to Mariners and are marked on
United Kingdom Hydrographic Office
The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is the UK's agency for providing hydrographic and marine geospatial data to mariners and maritime organisations across the world. The UKHO is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is ...
charts. A
statutory instrument
In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation.
United Kingdom
Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom.
National government
Statutory instrument ...
shows the location of the site and also the extent of the restricted protected area. This is often done using a buoy, (usually yellow and inscribed 'Protected Wreck') although sites that are close to the shore may have notices on land which not only serve to warn, but often also describe why the wreck is important (e.g. on the National Trust path at the Salcombe Moor Sand / Salcombe Cannon site).
Despite this, criminal damage to protected wrecks is reported frequently. Artefacts from the site of the British warship ''
HMS ''Coronation'''', off Penlee Point, were allegedly stolen in 2011, and arrests were made in April 2011 over thefts from the warship
HMS ''London''.
Wrecks designated as dangerous
As of July 2008, only two wrecks are designated as dangerous under section 2 of the act. These are the
SS ''Richard Montgomery'' (designated in 1973), and the
SS ''Castilian'' (designated in 1997), in both cases due to containing large amounts of explosives. The
MV ''Braer'' was also protected from 1993, until the order was revoked in 1994. Designation provides for an exclusion zone for all activities around the wreck. Diving is strictly prohibited on these dangerous wrecks. Designation and control under section 2 of the act is managed by the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...
.
Wrecks protected by other means
A number of wreck sites have been protected under the
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 or AMAAA was a law passed by the UK government, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the archaeological heritage of England & Wales and Scotland. Norther ...
as maritime
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
s. These are:
* The remains of the
scuttled German High Seas Fleet in
Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
* The remains of eight historic fishing vessels in
Aberlady Bay
Aberlady Bay in East Lothian, Scotland lies between Aberlady and Gullane.
In 1952, Aberlady Bay became the UK's first Local Nature Reserve (LNR) and is served by the East Lothian Council Rangers.
The Scottish Ornithologists' Club has Watersto ...
* The ''Louisa'', at
Grangetown, Cardiff
Grangetown (Welsh: usually ''Grangetown'', also Trelluest) is a district and community in the south of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is one of the largest districts in the south of the city and is bordered by Riverside, Canton and Butetown. T ...
*
HMS D1
HMS ''D1'' was one of eight D-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th century.
Description
The D-class submarines were designed as improved and enlarged versions of the preceding C class, with diesel engi ...
, near Dartmouth, Devon
All wrecked aircraft and a number of designated military shipwrecks are protected as military maritime graves, i.e. war graves under the
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
. This is administered by the UK
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
.
Maritime sites other than wrecks, such as fish traps, may also be protected by scheduling.
Lists of wrecks
There are currently (2011) 61 historic protected wreck sites designated in the UK, although this is only a tiny fragment of the wrecks that are known to exist. There are 46 in English and Welsh waters and fifteen in Scottish waterseight of these are designated under the 1973 Act, whilst the remains of the German
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
are protected under the
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 or AMAAA was a law passed by the UK government, the latest in a series of Ancient Monument Acts legislating to protect the archaeological heritage of England & Wales and Scotland. Norther ...
.
There is a searchable list of all protected wreck sites in England available online using the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
.
A map of the sites in Scotland is available through
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. ...
, whilst
Cadw
(, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...
has a list on its website.
Falkland Islands protected wrecks
On 7 July 1977 the legislature of the overseas territory of the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
passed an ordinance similar to the UK Protection of Wrecks Act, allowing for the protection of wrecks in colonial waters that are either of historical, archaeological or artistic importance (section 3), or are dangerous (section 4). On 20 October 1983, an order was passed under the ordinance, designating the areas around the wrecks of
HMS ''Ardent'' and
HMS ''Antelope'', lying in Falkland Sound and San Carlos Water, respectively as prohibited places under section 4. On 3 November 2006, an order came into force to designate the area around the wreck of
HMS ''Coventry'' as a restricted area. These three ships had been sunk during the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
.
See also
*
Archaeology of shipwrecks
The archaeology of shipwrecks is the field of archaeology specialized most commonly in the study and exploration of shipwrecks. Its techniques combine those of archaeology with those of diving to become Underwater archaeology. However, shipwrecks ...
*
Maritime archaeology
Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, s ...
*
Wreck diving
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificia ...
References
Maritime and Coastguard websiteinformation on protected wrecks
English Heritage Protected Wrecks websiteinformation about the protection of wrecks and application for licences in England
English Heritage Maritime Archaeology Publicationsfor ACHWS annual reports, guidance on historic wrecks and other relevant material
Cadw websiteinformation about the protection of wrecks and other maritime sites in Wales
* Martin, Colin (2004), "Close Encounters of a Licensed Kind", in ''The Advisory Committee for Historic Wreck Sites Annual Report for 2004
pp16–19. This article provides a description of the working of the Act.
* Fenwick, Valerie and Gale, Alison (1998), ''Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated'', Tempus Publishing Limited, . This book describes the 47 wrecks designated in the first 25 years of the Act.
*
*
* Protection of Wrecks Ordinance 1977 (No. 12) 7 July 1977 (Falkland Islands)
* Protection of Wrecks (Ardent and Antelope Designation) Order 1983 (No. 2) 20 October 1983 (Falkland Islands)
* Protection of Wrecks (Designation) Order 2006 (no. 24) 23 October 2006 (Falkland Islands)
External links
The National Heritage List for England Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck sites (ACHWS)*
{{UK legislation
Archaeology of shipwrecks
Protected Wrecks of the United Kingdom
Shipwreck law
Ships of the United Kingdom
Scheduled monuments
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1973