Last Updated on December 13, 2021 by Divernet
Yet another of England's 53 protected wreck-sites has been made available as an online virtual dive-trail by Historic England (HE) – this time it's the Norman's Bay Wreck in Sussex.
HE’s virtual trails, of which this is the 13th, use technology such as multi-image photogrammetric recording and 3D printing of geophysical survey data as well as virtual- and augmented-reality techniques to create clear 3D images of a wreck-site.
The Norman’s Bay Wreck was discovered by local divers Martin Wiltshire, Steve Pace and Paul Stratford while trying to free a lobster pot in Pevensey Bay, and designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act in 2006.
The site contains a cluster of at least 51 iron guns, timber hull structure and various other artefacts, including a large anchor on top of a ballast mound. A copper alloy cauldron recovered by a local diver in the 1990s is now displayed at the Shipwreck Museum in Hastings.
The wreck’s identity is still being researched but it is believed to be a 17th century 64-gun Dutch warship, the Wapen van Utrecht, one of 10 Dutch vessels lost during the Battle of Beachy Head during the Nine Years War in 1690.
“We have been diving on the Norman’s Bay Wreck since 2010 and have spent a lot of time trying to understand the extent of the site,” says Mark Beattie-Edwards, CEO of the Nautical Archaeology Society and a current licensee of the wreck.
The NAS plans to continue working on the wreck during 2018. “This year we’re excited to be able to show the world what the site looks like on the Sussex seabed, through the development of the virtual dive. The project team hopes this new work can raise awareness and interest in this amazing piece of underwater cultural heritage”.
You can do the virtual dive here.
HE has also recently launched 3D site plans of protected wreck-sites in the Isles of Scilly the Association, Bartholomew Ledges, HMS Colossus, Tearing Ledge and the Wheel Wreck. Created by Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS), they can be found here.
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