Quarry workers stumble upon remains of rare 16th-century English ship, researchers say

The remains of a rare 16th-century vessel were unexpectedly unearthed along the English coastline by quarry workers last year, archaeologists said.

Workers for CEMEX, a building materials company, were dredging a quarry near Kent in April when they stumbled upon the remnants of the wooden ship and contacted experts, according to a Dec. 30 news release from Wessex Archaeology.

“Very few English-built 16th-century vessels survive, making this a rare discovery from what was a fascinating period in the history of seafaring,” archaeologists said.

The remains, which include 100 English oak timbers dating from 1558 to 1580, were found about a quarter-mile from the current coastline, archaeologists said. Experts believe the site was once on the shoreline and that the ship was likely wrecked or discarded.

The wooden remains are “really significant” because they will allow for a broader understanding of trade and shipbuilding throughout the Elizabethan era, which spanned from 1558 to 1603, archaeologists said.

The era was transitional for shipbuilding as shipwrights were believed to have shifted from a traditional construction practice — as observed in Viking vessels — to a multi-part process where the internal framing was built first, archaeologists said.

After the vessel is photographed and subjected to laser scanning, it will be reburied in the quarry so that the silt can continue to preserve the wooden timbers, according to archaeologists.

“To find a late 16th-century ship preserved in the sediment of a quarry was an unexpected but very welcome find indeed,” Andrea Hamel, a marine archaeologist with Wessex Archaeology, said in the release.

A spokesperson for Wessex Archaeology did not immediately respond to a McClatchy News request for comment.

This story was originally published January 3, 2023 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Quarry workers stumble upon remains of rare 16th-century English ship, researchers say."