Wheel Wreck

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The Wheel Wreck is the remains of a shipwreck lying in Crow sound off Little Ganinick in the Isles of Scilly^[1]. The wreck site consists of a discrete mound of cargo, that appears to consist of iron wheels and pipes. It is thought to have been deposited from a ship that capsized, although the remains of the ship have not been found and a wrecked ship has not yet been identified^[2]. However, an anchor lies some 60m from the cargo. The wreck was discovered by local divers in 2005 and investigated by the archaeological contractor for the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 in 2006.

The archaeological contractor identified that the cargo consists of tin-mining equipment and is presumed to have been from a foundry in Cornwall. This archaeological identification fortuitously came just after the designation of the Cornish tin mining areas as a World Heritage Site^[3]. The cargo find is considered particularly important, because such mining equipment no longer exists on land.

The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 5 April 2007^[1].

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 721. Office of Public Sector Information. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
2. ^ Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Annual Report 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
3. ^ DCMS Press Release. Department for Culture Media and Sport. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.