The sparse, scattered remains of the wreck of the SILOAM lie on the southern side of the mouth of Nolton Haven and are visible during low spring tides. Archaeological material comprises a large iron wheel and an adjacent iron stanchion or post. Further material in the form of plank fragments wedged under rocks and deposits of the vessel's iron ore cargo can be found for a further 30m to the south. The iron ore appears as what looks like mounds of dark red pebbles, about the size of a fist, but on inspection can be found to be very heavy, and leaving a red stain when handled.
The site was visited on the 23rd January 2023 (LW 0.49m above datum) in order to confirm the presence of archaeological material and to update the location data held within the NMRW - the iron wheel is now listed as the centre point of the site. Photogrammetric survey of the extant ironwork allowed the creation of a 3D digital record of the archaeological material, which can be viewed here: https://skfb.ly/oD6GY
Event and Historical Information:
The SILOAM was a three-masted wooden schooner (Official Number 59695) that was driven ashore and wrecked at Nolton Haven with the loss of 1 crewmember in a gale on the 20th February 1892 while on route from Duddon in Cumbria to Briton Ferry, under master O.Thomas with a cargo of iron ore. The SILOAM was originally built as a two-masted wooden brigantine by a shipbuilder called Davies at Prince Edward Island in Canada in 1868; dimensions of 93.5ft in length, 22.4ft in breadth, 11.3ft depth of hold, 140 gross tons, 118 net tons, and fastened with iron bolts. The vessel was first owned by Benjamin Davies, a merchant of Charlottestown, before being transferred to the Liverpool ownership of W. Barton a year later. The vessel's registration shifted to Dundalk in Ireland in 1871 under the ownership of James Oakes. In 1890 the Mercantile Navy List (MNL) records that ownership shifted to Elias Hughes Bell, but registration remained at Dundalk. Ownership was transferred again (as recorded by the MNL), in 1891 to William Postlethwaite of Millom, Cumberland, with the vessel's registration shifting to Barrow in 1892. At the time of its loss the SILOAM was still owned by William Postlethwaite of Millom and registered at Barrow.
A further point of interest concerns the re-rigging of the ship from a two-masted brigantine, as built, to a three-masted schooner, as wrecked. As late in its career as the 1890 Lloyds Register the vessel is still recorded as a wooden brigantine. At the time of the last Lloyds Register entry in the 1892 register, it is recorded as a wooden three-masted schooner. This configuration is also noted in the Lloyds Register Casualty Returns for 1892. It therefore seems most likely that the ship was re-rigged at the point of its registration shifting from Dundalk to Barrow in 1891-1892.
Sources include:
Bennett, T., 'Wrecks on Welsh Beaches': SILOAM.
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1892, Appendix C, Table 1, p.134 (876)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002, Vol 5.7, West Wales (EG)
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 January - 31 March 1892, p.12 (h)
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1870, S-381
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1890, S-1026
Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, 1892, S-900
Merchant Navy List 1870-1892
South Wales Daily News, 22 February 1892, p.5
This record was enhanced in 2020 with funding from Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of the project ‘Making the Link: Lloyd's Register and the National Monuments Record of Wales’. Visit Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre for more resources.
J.Whitewright, RCAHMW, February 2023.