Record ID: MAS-100007
Object type: SPOON
Broad period: MODERN
County: Devon
Workflow stage: Published
This spoon is made of a metal alloy, possibly copper alloy, and was probably originally plated. Its manufacture would have been cast. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) crest is stamped into the end of the spoon. The crest features the RAAF monogram with a laurel wreath surmounted by a crown. This crest is the same style as that used for cap badges and is modelled from a Royal Air Force (RAF) crest. The more widely adopted RAAF crest was commissioned and designed in 1937 and accepted in 1939. It is composed of the imperial crown mounted on a circle featuring the words 'Royal Austra…
Created on: Thursday 8th September 2016
Last updated: Wednesday 14th December 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100012
Object type: LANDING CRAFT INFANTRY
Broad period: MODERN
County: Suffolk
Workflow stage: Published
This hulk is situated on the River Deben, just outside of Melton (Suffolk) and is estimated to measure 11.5 m in length and 3 m in width. The structure is rectangular in shape with squared edges and straight sides. One end suggests the presence of a bulkhead and a hatch or doorway, while the other end is missing. Parts of possible rudder components are located close to the bulkhead, suggesting that this is the stern. Internal frames can be seen throughout the remaining structure; estimated measurements reveal a spacing of approximately 0.42 m. The hull is constructed of wood in a doubl…
Created on: Friday 30th September 2016
Last updated: Monday 10th October 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100031
Object type: TIMBER
Broad period: MODERN
County: Hampshire
Workflow stage: Published
Possible ships timber or part of other marine or land based structure. Truncated rounded timber with hole and evidence of mounting plate for furniture, broken or rotted off at one end exposing heart wood and a knot in the wood. Approximately 2000 mm long and 600 mm in diameter. The undamaged half of the timber appears in good condition, implying a more recent date for the timber, whereas the other part appears to have suffered extensive degradation. The arrangement of damage to the timber suggests it may have been partially submerged during its useful life, possibly as part of a shore …
Created on: Thursday 9th March 2017
Last updated: Friday 21st February 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100103
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This flat-based Hamilton, or 'torpedo' bottle stands 240 mm high, with a 64-mm wide base and is approximately 90 mm wide at the waist. It has a 'bottle logo' embossed on its base. There are possibly other text/numerals that have since worn away. The bottle shows moulding scars on the base and sides. It has a crown top finish. The egg-shaped bottle was first patented by William Francis Hamilton in 1814, the idea being that the bottle had to be stored on its side to keep the cork wet and ensuring a good seal on the reusable bottle. In around 1870, the flat based egg or Hamilton bottle w…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100104
Object type: SHELL CASES
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
The shell case measures 660 mm long and is 152 mm in diameter at the base, and 116 mm in diameter at the neck though this has been buckled and stretched. The shell case appears to have been either constructed without a base, or it has been removed at some point in the past. The diameter of the neck and its overall size point to it being a 4.5-inch or possibly a 4.7-inch shell case. Without the base with the details of type, manufacturer and date of manufacture, the history and origin of this case is not clear. It would have been part of a fixed round, i.e. the shell was attached to the…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100111
Object type: AIRCRAFT COMPONENT
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
Aluminium aircraft section, heavily corroded and damaged. No identifying marks or plates visible, though two cross member plate remnants present. 870 x 45mm. The lack of identifying marks means that the type and origin of the aircraft cannot be definitively identified from this recovered section. Initially thought to be part of a piston engine support frame from something like a Spitfire fighter, a Dakota transport aircraft, or perhaps one of the multi-engined bombers,this theory was discarded as these are generally circular in section. The double row of rivet holes down one side (pre…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100109
Object type: BOAT
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This find is an unidentified curved aluminium sheet that measures approximately 0.94 m by 0.24 m and has a thickness of 5 mm. The sheet displays one riveted hole and one area still exhibits faint traces of red paint. The sheet is covered in a layer of marine growth. Initially it was believed that this object could be associated with aviation remains, however, after consulting our historic aircraft specialist, it was confirmed that the material is too thick to belong to an aircraft. The colour red does not often appear, other than on external markings or Luftwaffe radio equipment, both…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100108
Object type: PORTHOLE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This object is the remains of a brass porthole ring measuring 250 mm across with a brass rim 28 mm wide. It is thought that this frame would have been on the outside of the hull of the vessel while an internal frame on the inside of the vessel would have contained the glass element and a hinged deadlight (a metal plate that was both a curtain and a reinforcement against heavy seas). Portholes have been used for centuries to allow light and ventilation to enter the lower, darker levels of vessels and in some early cases, as a means of seeing out of a submersible. Portholes are waterti…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100150
Object type: LID
Broad period: MODERN
Workflow stage: Published
One copper item, thought to be a lid by discoverer. It is around 180 mm in diameter with greenish brown discolouration from the oxidising of the copper. At its centre there is a raised disc that has been possibly beaten out of the original shape. This circular embossed disc is approximately 90 mm in diameter and has a small circular aperture in its centre (roughly 10 mm diameter). Other than a lid, the item could be a lamp shade of some sort or a hub of some wheeled apparatus.
Created on: Monday 9th October 2017
Last updated: Friday 27th March 2020
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-F100172
Object type: AIRCRAFT COMPONENT
Broad period: MODERN
Workflow stage: Published
Rolls Royce Merlin 45 gear unit, serial number GU 69 677, with a truncated, heavily damaged and corroded, three bladed propeller. All three propeller blades have survived despite heavy corrosion, though the end of one is missing. The wiring in the propeller cam shaft is visible since the outer dome casing has partially disintegrated. The Merlin 45 engine was used in the Mk. V Supermarine Spitfire fighters, in Reconnaissance Spitfires (PR Mk. IG & P MK. IV), and early versions of the naval version the Supermarine Seafire Mk. IB and Mk. IIC). The Merlin 45 saw active service from ear…
Created on: Friday 27th April 2018
Last updated: Friday 27th March 2020
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100220
Object type: VALVE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
Two small brass valves and one small double valve. The first item has three conections, with two sections of thinner pipe (10 mm diameter approx) still attached perpendicular to threaded fixing, and both twisted. The thicker pipe (38 mm approx) runs parallel and opposite to threaded fixing. In all cases the rest of the pipes have sheared off. The second valve is similar in characteristics to the first, with three connections and a threaded fixing. This valve is slightly smaller and less encrusted, and only one section of thin (10 mm approx) pipe attached perpendicular to threaded fixin…
Created on: Friday 21st September 2018
Last updated: Thursday 26th March 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100221
Object type: VALVE
Broad period: MODERN
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One brass stopper and one brass valve. The valve has spherical central body, with three different piped connections conjoining at right angles, each indentical in style; circular and 30 mm long, with a 180 mm approximate diameter. It is wheel-operated, with the wheel shaft thinner than the piped connections at 25 mm, before expanding to a larger shaft with diameter of 65 mm. The condition of the valve is heavily corroded and encrusted with metal growths. The stopper is in a similar condition, although one nut and bolt at its centre appears to be in fair condition.
Created on: Friday 21st September 2018
Last updated: Wednesday 19th February 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100219
Object type: VALVE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
One small brass expansion valve. It is wheel operated from two opposite ends, roughly 260 mm apart. Approximately 50 mm in from each wheel there is a piped connection with the pipes roughly 25 mm diameter and both kinking into a right angle. Between the two wheels and the pipe connection, at the centre of the expansion valve, is a large metal boss, possibly where the two ends were fixed together. Item is heavily corroded and in poor condition.
Created on: Friday 21st September 2018
Last updated: Thursday 26th March 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-6105BA
Object type: FIREARM
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Published
This gun is a QF (quick firing) 6-pounder Hotchkiss, a light 2.25 inch (57 mm) naval and coastal defence gun from the late 19th century. The design appears to be pre-1890 as it does not have the recoil system that was introduced at that time. The original 1885 Mk I was a built-up gun with a vertical sliding-block breech. The name comes from the French manufacturing company, Hotchkiss, who were the major supplier of light QF guns in the world. This type of gun became a standard torpedo defence weapon; many navies bought this same type of gun (Friedman 2011).
Created on: Monday 25th July 2016
Last updated: Friday 26th August 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100011
Object type: CLAY PIPE (SMOKING)
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Published
This is a very worn example of a 'cutty' (short) pipe (total length 115 mm) with a round-based spurless bowl imitating a briar pipe, and decorated with multiple 'thorns' - small pointed protrusions around the stem and bowl. This type of bowl was in use between c. 1850 and 1910 (Atkinson and Oswald 1969: type 30), and the thorn design was one of the many decorative types popular during this period (e.g. Ayto 1994:11; Hammond 2009: figure 7). Clay tobacco pipes were manufactured (using two-piece moulds) in huge quantities in many towns and cities around the UK and were also imported fro…
Created on: Wednesday 28th September 2016
Last updated: Wednesday 12th October 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100026
Object type: SHIPS TIMBER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: North Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Published
Two fragments of waterlogged wood with two copper fasteners dating from the post-medieval period onwards. The wood may be the remains of two planks of wood used in the construction of a ship as the planks are secured with one copper fastening and a hole is visible where another fastening may have also been used. Copper rivets are the standard method of fastening the planks to each other in clinker constructed vessels, or in the planks to the ribs or frames (Traditional Maritime Skills website, accessed September 2017). Clinker is a method of constructing the hull of a boat by fixing w…
Created on: Saturday 28th January 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100042
Object type: BOWL
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Dorset
Workflow stage: Published
Fragment of white ceramic bowl or lid marked with black and white geometric design and number '23'. Number appears to be hand-painted or stamped. Found loose on the seabed with a little marine growth present. This is a naval issue bowl probably used for drinking rather than smaller, handled cups, as they were more practical on board a ship. The number refers to the mess number, and the bowls were designed to be stored upside-down. The find dates to the late 19th or 20th century.
Created on: Monday 29th May 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100068
Object type: WINE BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Two green glass wine bottles that appear to have the flat band-like collar around the rim which is typical of Continental (particularly French) wine bottles; the type appeared around the middle of the 19th century. This particular shape was - and still is - referred to as a 'hock' or Rhine wine and was one of the three dominant styles of wine bottles that bridge the time from at least the mid-19th century to the present day. Hock wine bottles are of German or French origin and during the 19th century, typically contained both red and white Rhine and Mosel wines. The distinctive shape…
Created on: Monday 24th July 2017
Last updated: Thursday 5th October 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100065
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Six stoneware seltzer bottles, of a type used to carry mineral water from various Continental (mainly German) spas. The term 'seltzer' takes its name from the town of Selters in the lower Rhineland, one of the original producers of effervescent mineral waters. This cylindrical bottle type was used from the early 19th century through to the First World War. These types of bottles were produced by the specialist potters known as Krugbacker, or pot bakers, in the Westerwald region of Germany. These bottles, which changed little throughout the 19th century, were slender and cylindrical and…
Created on: Monday 24th July 2017
Last updated: Thursday 5th October 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100066
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Four stoneware bottles (three large and one smaller) that were probably used for beer, ale, stout or porter. Stoneware bottles provided the ultimate in protection from the detrimental effects of light but were very heavy. They were produced in Britain in the 1800s and many bottles found in the United States were even imported from here. All of these bottles have a feldspathic glaze over an ochre dip on the upper parts of the bottle giving them a darker colour on top. Feldspars (natural rocks of aluminosilicates) are used in stoneware and porcelain glazes because they fuse only at hi…
Created on: Monday 24th July 2017
Last updated: Thursday 5th October 2017
Spatial data recorded.