9 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Rare Elizabethan ship discovered at a quarry

An Elizabethan ship in “remarkable condition” has been discovered on the lake bed of a Kent quarry, one of only a few examples to survive from a pivotal period in England’s seafaring history.

In April, workers at a quarry on the Dungeness headland were dredging a lake when they came across the 16th-century timbers. As they pulled them up, the remains of the vessel’s hull came up in one piece, intact and undamaged by the movement.

Found some 300 meters from the coast, the discovery stumped the quarry team, who contacted archaeologists from Wessex Archaeology to study the remains. Recognising the significance of this extraordinary discovery, Kent County Council enlisted specialist support and emergency funding from Historic England.

What the archaeologists found is a rare Elizabethan ship, the timbers of which were cut between 1558 and 1580, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, according to a dendrochronological analysis.

Photo: Wessex Archaeology

Over 100 timbers from the ship’s hull were recovered, with dendrochronological analysis, funded by Historic England, dating the timbers that built the ship to between 1558 and 1580 and confirming it was made of English oak.

This places the ship at a transitional period in Northern European ship construction. When ships are believed to have moved from a traditional clinker construction (as seen in Viking vessels) to frame-first-built ships (as recorded here), where the internal framing is built first and flush-laid planking is later added to the frames to create a smooth outer hull. This technique is similar to what was used on the Mary Rose, built between 1509 and 1511, and the ships that would explore and settle along the Atlantic coastlines of the New World.

Andrea Hamel, Marine Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, said: “To find a late 16th-century ship preserved in the sediment of a quarry was an unexpected but very welcome find indeed. The ship has the potential to tell us so much about a period where we have little surviving evidence of shipbuilding but yet was such a great period of change in ship construction and seafaring.”

A still from a 3D model of the 16th-century ship found at Dungeness quarry. Photo: Wessex Archaeology

Although uncovered 300 meters from the sea in what is today a quarry, experts believe that the ship was either wrecked on the shingle headland or abandoned at the end of the ship’s usefulness.

Archaeologists have recorded the ship using laser scanning and digital photography. Once work is complete the timbers will be reburied in the quarry lake where they were uncovered so that the silt can continue to preserve the remains.

Wessex Archaeology

Cover Photo: Wessex Archaeology

Related Articles

Restoration Complete: Athena Temple in Side Reopens to the Public

24 March 2025

24 March 2025

The Athena Temple, once overshadowed by the more prominent Temple of Apollo, has emerged as a significant historical and cultural...

The ancient necropolis area in Turkey’s Antalya becomes a museum

22 July 2023

22 July 2023

The East Garage Necropolis Area, which was once a public market in the southern province of Antalya and where archaeological...

Europe’s Oldest Plough Marks Discovered in Switzerland and Testifying the Use of Animals in Agriculture 7000 Years Ago

8 March 2024

8 March 2024

Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, researchers revealed evidence that Neolithic farmers used animal traction to pull...

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...

Origin of Ivory Rings Found in Elite Anglo-Saxon Burials

2 July 2023

2 July 2023

An elite class of ancient Anglo-Saxon women were buried with hundreds of ivory rings, and the origin of these ivory...

Brick tombs dating from the Jin Dynasty have been unearthed in Shanxi Province

15 August 2021

15 August 2021

Archaeologists discovered two brick tombs at an old cemetery with 14 crypts in north China‘s Shanxi Province. The findings offer...

Scientists discover traces of paint on the Parthenon Sculptures that reveal their true colours

12 October 2023

12 October 2023

Recent research on the Parthenon Sculptures has found traces of the original paint used to decorate the Parthenon Sculptures, revealing...

A 4000-year-old Fabric Found in a Cave of Skulls in the Judean Desert is the Oldest Dyed with Insect Dye

15 July 2024

15 July 2024

Researchers discovered an ancient textile dyed with kermes (Kermes vermilio) in Israel’s Cave of Skulls that dates back to the...

Ancient Cymbals Unearthed in Oman Reveal Shared Musical Traditions Across Bronze Age Cultures

8 April 2025

8 April 2025

Recent archaeological discoveries in Oman have unveiled significant insights into the musical practices of Bronze Age societies, suggesting a rich...

A Neolithic Ornate Necklace with Over 2,500 Stones found in a Child’s Grave

3 August 2023

3 August 2023

An ornate necklace found in a child’s grave in ancient Jordan about 9,000 years ago provides new insights into the...

Evidence of Rare Romano-Celtic Temple Near Lancaster Castle -may be only the second of its type –

10 March 2023

10 March 2023

A study exercise for students from Lancaster University has uncovered a Romano-Celtic temple, only the second of its type in...

Ancient stone grenades discovered at Badaling Great Wall in Beijing

16 October 2023

16 October 2023

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 59 ancient stone grenades from the ruins of a building in the western section of the...

“Nikasitimos Was Here Mounting Timiona,” 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti on Astypalaia, Greece

7 April 2024

7 April 2024

In 2014, an archaeologist working on Astypalaia, a remote Greek island of the Dodecanese discovered one of the world’s oldest...

1-meter tall bronze statue found in China’s Sanxingdui Ruins-Video

17 June 2022

17 June 2022

Chinese archaeologists have discovered a 1-meter tall bronze statue at the site of ancient Sanxingdui ruins site in southwest China’s...

Rock Ship of Masuda, Japan’s mysterious monolith

17 April 2023

17 April 2023

Located in the Takaichi District of Nara Prefecture, Japan, the village of Asuka is famous for its mysterious stones. The...