The wreck is reported to lie with its keel orientated east-west, but is very broken up over a sloping seabed. Iron ribs and sections of rivetted iron plate lie scattered around, along with a section of tubular mast. Firebricks incised with the maker's mark 'Cartcraig' of Glasgow can be seen. Off-white lumps of chalk are the remains of chalk-filled casks, where the outer wooden staves have eroded away. A wide range of finds have been recovered and reported to the Receiver of Wreck, these include the ship's chronometers, portholes, clay pipes, the ship's helm, crockery and storage jars, a shower head, and an oil lamp.

Event and Historical Information:
The PRIMROSE HILL was an iron-hulled sailing barque. Technical and configuration specifications are given as 2520tons; 301ft length x 41ft breadth x 25ft depth. At time of loss, the vessel was on passage from Liverpool to Australia with a general cargo. The barque was under the command of master J Wilson, who had 33 crewmen onboard including 12 apprentices. The barque was towed out of the Mersey river by the tug WILLIAM JOLIFFE on 24 December 1900 and had anchored at Moelfre over the remainder of the Christmas period. However, on the 28 December 1900, the tug arrived at Holyhead saying that it had lost its tow off Bardsey during the night. At 8.30am, the telegraphist at South Stack spotted the barque caught by a gale and opposing tide. The barque was flying the distress signal 'NC'. The London and North Western Railway steamer HIBERNIA was completing a crossing from Dublin and drew alongside, but the steamer's steering gear broke down at that moment and the master had to extricate the passenger vessel. The Captain of the PRIMROSE HILL let go both anchors. The barque dragged its anchors to within 200yards of the South Stack They failed to hold and the ship grounded at around 3.30pm (or 2pm sources differ) on the Penrhos Feilw Point. The barque started to break up and was gone in five minutes. On crewmember, a Swede named Petersen, was aloft on a yard and was thrown into the shallows and was rescued by two local farmers with a rope. There were no other survivors. Fifteen unidentified bodies were buried at Holyhead. Five crewmen were not found.

Sources include:

Evening Express, 31 December 1900, p.3
Lloyd's Register Casualty Returns, 1 October - 31 December 1900, p.10 (h)
Receiver of Wreck Droits Database 2007, RCIM6/2/5
Sea Notes II, I Wynne-Jones scrapbook, Conwy Archive Service CX288/5/27, p.371
UK Hydrographic Office Wrecks and Obstructions Database. ? Crown Copyright and database rights. Reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the UK Hydrographic Office (www.ukho.gov.uk).
Wynne-Jones, I, 2001, Shipwrecks of North Wales, 4th edition, p.66

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, June 2008.

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.