The ‘Gresham Ship’: an interim report on a 16th-century wreck from Princes Channel, Thames Estuary

Abstract

AbstractThe 'Gresham Ship' was found in Princes Channel by the Port of London Authority in 2003. Investigations culminated in the recovery in 2004 of the remains of a small to medium-sized armed merchant ship built soon after 1574, probably in East Anglia or Essex. The wreck provides archaeological evidence of the documented practice of 'furring' (rebuilding a ship to increase its breadth). The cargo included folded iron bars, lead ingots and tin ingots, and amongst the four recovered guns is a rare English early cast-iron saker, marked with the grasshopper motif and initials of Sir Thomas Gresham.