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Summary

Site of a row of keels and wreckage from twelve vessels in the Exe Estuary

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HULK (XIX to XX - 1801 AD to 2000 AD (Between))

Full description

Read, M., 16/02/2005, Exe Estuary Hulks (Correspondence). SDV320333.

Site of a row of keels & wreckage from twelve vessels in the Exe Estuary including Topsham ex-Oliver Trow 1871, four sailing trawlers 'Mistletoe' 1890, 'Commander' 1899, 'Friendship' 1903, & 'Smilin' Morn' 1886, two ketches 'Harewood' & 'Tentative', a barquetine 'Leader' 1869, a steel motor barge, a smack 'Lynher' & the Brixham trawler 'Lynx' 1903 Other details: email.

Read, M., 2005, Exe Hulk Recording Project (Correspondence). SDV323662.

Aerial photograph of 1939 from Topsham Museum showing some of the hulks opposite Topsham. It shows a group of three fairly complete hulks with c6 decayed hulks to the south. Little evidence remains above the mud for most of the hulks. They were identified in 'Lost Ships of the West Country' by M Langley & E Small as a "row of keels & wreckage from 12 vessels". The oldest he records is the smack 'Belle' built in 1855. Several were sold for breaking before or during WWI which may fit in with their state of preservation in the 1939 photograph. Other details: Aerial Photograph from Topsham Museum.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2013-2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV351146.

A number of hulks of modern date are visible as wrecked structures within the Exe Estuary. The hulks, which number in excess of thirty, largely represent abandoned vessels which are concentrated within a 370m stretch along the western bank of the Exe Estuary. It was not possible, however, to relate the ‘twelve’ hulks recorded within this monument to those transcribed and recorded as part of this survey.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV320333	Correspondence: Read, M.. 16/02/2005. Exe Estuary Hulks.
SDV323662	Correspondence: Read, M.. 2005. Exe Hulk Recording Project. Exe Hulk Recording Project. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV351146	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2013-2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6127 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme (NMP) for South-West England - South Coast Devon (Ref: ACD618)

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