A group of two brothers, together with their father and two other collaborators, found the remains of HMS Gloucester, a warship of the English Navy that sank in 1660 while transporting the Duke of York and the future King James Stuart.
It took more than four years to track down a area of more than 5, nautical miles long off the UK coast, but in the end, the work finally paid off.
The location of the ship was actually found at 2007, but it was not revealed to protect its location, which is in international waters. It has been described as one of the most important discoveries in maritime history since the Mary Rose, a warship in King Henry VIII’s navy found in 1971.
Build in 1652 for the English navy, the Gloucester participated in battles during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1654 to 1660 and the second and third Anglo-Dutch war. She crashed into 1682 after colliding with a sandbar, to tragic death of 250 people as a result. The future king survived the shipwreck but delayed the ship’s departure until the last minute.
“ Due to the circumstances of its sinking, this can be claimed as the most significant historical maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1971,” Caire Jowitt, an expert in maritime history, said in a statement.
“The discovery promises to fundamentally change the understanding of the social, maritime and political history of the 17th century”.
The Story of a Remarkable Discovery
Together with his late father Michael and two friends, including former Royal Navy diver James Little, brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell spent four years on diving expeditions to find the remains of Gloucester. They said they were inspired by memories of lifting the Mary Rose, but describe the effort as very difficult.
The discovery of the remains was in the team’s fourth season of diving in search of Gloucester. Lincoln said that the group was beginning to think that they were not going to be able to find the ship, until they did.
“It was impressive and really beautiful. It instantly felt like a privilege to be there, it was very exciting,” he said in a statement.
Although the team discovered the wreck in 2007, it was not until the bell was recovered of the ship at 2012 which was definitively identified as Gloucester. Some of the salvaged artifacts include clothing, shoes, boating gear, and wine bottles. One bottle has a glass seal bearing the coat of arms of the Legge family, ancestors of George Washington.
“This is going to be the Mary Rose of Norfolk,” Lord Dannatt, deputy lieutenant of Norfolk, said in a statement. “Julian and Lincoln have touched history, history that could have changed the course of this nation. It is an incredible story to tell. Our goal is to bring that story to life and share it with as many people as possible.”
A major exhibition is now planned for spring next year thanks to a partnership between the two brothers, the University of East Anglia and the Norfolk Museum Service. It will take place from February to July at the Norwich Castle Museum, showcasing the finds from the shipwreck (including the bell) and sharing historical, scientific and archaeological research.
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