Record ID: MAS-O100234
Object type: BARREL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Down
Workflow stage: Published
This find comprises of the remains of three to four wooden barrels, which were buried in the intertidal sandy substrate of a pleasure beach. The action of the tide revealed the barrels and it is unclear how much of the barrels remain. End of the staves, lengths of timber making the sides of the barrel, are visible and clearly degraded. In some cases these give the appearance of flaring outwards, implying that only the lower portion of the barrel remains. At least one barrel exhibits inwardly projecting staves, suggesting more than half of the barrel remains. There is some evidence for …
Created on: Monday 15th October 2018
Last updated: Monday 30th March 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100181
Object type: TIMBER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Dorset
Workflow stage: Published
Find consists of two sections of timber or wood. The first measures approximately 1650 mm in length, 85 mm in width and 90 mm in depth. There are no diagnostic elements visible upon the timber, such as tool marks or fixing points, and therefore its function remains unknown. It does, however, appear to be faced and is therefore unlikely to be a piece of natural driftwood. The second piece of wood measures approximately 196 mm in length and 20 mm in width. There is at least one possible nail hole visible and again it appears to have been faced or worked by human hands. It is heavily deg…
Created on: Friday 1st June 2018
Last updated: Thursday 26th March 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100177
Object type: TIMBER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Dorset
Workflow stage: Published
Section of highly degraded timber measuring approximately 216 mm in length by 31 mm at its widest point. The ends taper to a point, in a regular fashion that seems a deliberate aspect of the timber rather than part of the process of degredation. At least five nail or bolt holes are apparent in the face of the timber, further differentiating the piece from a section of unworked natural wood. The function of the timber is unidentifiable from the data available. As it has been recovered from a wreck it is likely to relate to the vessel itself and can tentatively be interpreted as a ships …
Created on: Friday 1st June 2018
Last updated: Thursday 26th March 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100110
Object type: POST
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
Heavily eroded and abraded timber fragment with marine borer and growth present. As it is so worn, it is difficult to tell what type of wood it is and whether this fragment was originally completely shaped and worked, or just partially worked to achieve its function. The timber does not exhibit any evidence or staining from fastenings, however, there is one hole that could have been a fastening point at some stage. It is thought that this fragment may be a broken post or groyne timber that has come from a beach rather than material relating to a wreck. Groynes are wooden barriers bui…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100107
Object type: TRANSPORT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This ship's timber is 830 mm long, 110 x 120 mm in profile, with truncated 25 mm diameter treenails; and a 385 x 65 mm slot for the supporting metal work from which the visible corrosion products suggest that they were of iron construction. The images were forwarded to ship expert and author Richard Endsor. The timber appears to be the beam end from a small ship, with evidence of knees on both sides. The small piece of plank let into it crossways may be the remains of a waterway at the side making this face the upper side of the beam. The treenails probably secured the plank. The notc…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100106
Object type: LADDER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
These two timbers are two components of a companion ladder. The larger piece measures 1.14 m long by 0.15 m wide and based on the visible ridges to accommodate the stairs, would have been the left-hand side banister of the ladder. The smaller piece measures 0.56 m wide and is 20 mm thick. This piece is one of the stairs that would have fitted between both banisters and still slots in to one of the grooves on the remaining banister. The join is step and groove radiused rather than square cut. Companion ladders or a companion way is usually steep but has treads or stairs rather than run…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100105
Object type: STRUCTURAL TIMBER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
These two unidentified timbers measure 790 x 75 x 90 mm and 160 x 100 x 60 mm and were recovered from a boat's trawl nets whilst working out of Newhaven, East Sussex. The small piece shows evidence of a longer period of immersion in terms of abrasion and marine borer damage, though this may also be due to the relative hardness and variety of the two woods, or any treatment that might have been received to protect the timber. Neither timber appears to be of ship related origin, with the larger darker piece looking as if it might have been a post and rail fence board originally, rather t…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100032
Object type: WATER CRAFT EQUIPMENT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
A wooden belaying pin, approximately 0.4 m in length. Belaying pins are either solid metal or wooden objects used on sailing ships to secure the running rigging. They are still seen today on traditional square rigged ships and replica vessels. More modern sailing vessels have tended to replace them with fixed cleats. Their design has little changed, comprising a rounded handle and cylindrical shaft of varying length and thickness, dependant on the workload placed on it. The shaft would fit into holes in pinrails, which lined the inside of the bulwarks around the base of the ship's mas…
Created on: Tuesday 14th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100049
Object type: WATER CRAFT EQUIPMENT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
Two circular wooden pulley sheaves. It is not clear whether these wooden pulley sheaves were a pair or from single sheave pulleys. Generally made from ash (Fraxinus), hickory (Carya) in the case of North America, or Lignum vitae. Lignum vitae, Latin for 'wood of life', is a trade wood, also called Guayacan or Guaiacum from the trees of the genus Guaiacum. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America and have been an important export crop to Europe since the beginning of the 16th century due to its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness, an…
Created on: Tuesday 14th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

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.