Guernsey’s Gallo-Roman WreckGuernsey’s Gallo-Roman WreckSeveral Roman-period wreck sites have been located around Guernsey but local diver, Richard Keen, discovered the best known example in 1982. It was located between the pierheads of St Peter Port harbour and suffering badly from the scouring action caused by the overhead passage of harbour traffic.
The Guernsey Maritime Trust was formed to rescue the wreck from destruction and excavation work began in 1984, under the direction of Dr. Margaret Rule. The final timbers were raised in 1985 and, together comprise a substantial part of the aft bottom of a Roman cargo ship. The surviving length amounts to about 18 metres with at least 4 metres of the bow missing.
Dr Jason Monaghan, a Guernsey based archaeologist co-ordinated much of the post-excavation research on the wreck and its contents, on behalf of the Guernsey Maritime Trust. He also co-authored the excavation report (with Dr. Margaret Rule) which was published by Guernsey Museums & Galleries as a monograph.
Details about the wreck are now included in the European NAVIS internet database of ancient ships. Guernsey Museums & Galleries are a partner in the NAVIS project, effectively representing the Guernsey Maritime Trust, to ensure that details of the unique Guernsey wreck are made known to the widest academic and public circle.
The wreck timbers themselves are now undergoing conservation at The Mary Rose Trust in Portsmouth. The programme will take approximately four years and includes immersion in PEG and freeze drying.
However, many of the small finds from the wreck site have already been conserved and some are on display in the Maritime Museum
at Castle Cornet which is located only a hundred metres from the wreck site. The
Guernsey Museum Service is hoping to display the wreck when it is conserved in a
new museum telling the story of St Peter Port harbour.
The next phase of research on the wreck will begin shortly. This will consist of: