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Summary

Site of the wreck of the Avonmore, a full rigged merchantman wrecked at Welcombe Mouth in 1869.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SS21NW35
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS21NW/518/1

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WRECK (Wrecked, XIX - 1869 AD to 1869 AD)

Full description

NMR, SS21NW35 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV337134.

Avonmore. Full rigged English merchantman wrecked Welcombe Mouth, 1869. Wooden vessel, built by Gass of New Brunswick in 1867. 179.6 feet long 37.3 feet wide, 23.9 feet deep. Owner: Hill & Co. Master: Corfield. Crew 22, of whom 7 lost. Registered Bristol. Cardiff to Montevideo in coal. Vessel anchored off Sharp's Nose, where her captain ordered all 3 masts to be cut down. She drove ashore and became a total wreck, 7 of her crew being washed overboard and drowned the moment she struck. The Bude rocket apparatus was taken to the cliffs overlooking the wreck , where under the supervision of chief boatman William Simpson, 9 of the crew were brought ashore safely. Six men still remained on the wreck, one of whom had a broken limb, and lay jammed amongst debris on the deck. Realising that the remaining crew could neither save themselves, nor be saved by the breeches buoy without assistance, Simpson went out to the wreck himself, but one of the lines jammed and he had to be hauled through the sea under the stern of the ship before reaching the deck. The vessel was now on its beam ends, her lee rail under water. With the rescue ropes still jammed, Simpson went back over the line, clearing the jam with his teeth. He was the last to leave.

Davy, O., 1870, Abstract of Wrecks, Casualties and Collisions on the Coasts of Great Britain (Un-published). SDV337135.

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1973, 1156 (Cartographic). SDV767.

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1978, 2675 (Cartographic). SDV772.

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1979, 1178 (Cartographic). SDV770.

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1980, 1123 (Cartographic). SDV766.

Larn, R. + Larn, B., 1995, Shipwreck Index of the British Isles. Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset (Monograph). SDV763.

Collings, A. G. + Manning, P. T. + Valentin, J., 2007, The North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Phase 1. Archaeological Survey. Summary Report, No. 460 (Report - Assessment). SDV339712.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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