A wooden shipwreck is located in the intertidal zone midway along Cefn Sidan sands. The vessel sits upright on a NE-SW axis. A pair of square posts, 1.2m apart, on the center-line of the hull at the northeastern end demarcate the bow, with the stem-post and inner-stem also preserved. The forward half of the vessel is well-defined by a coherent series of paired framing timbers protruding through the sand. The probable stern of the vessel is indicated by a further run of protruding frame timbers, a short distance to the south-west, that align with the rest of the hull. The visible extent of the hull is 29m in length and c. 8m wide at its broadest part.  

The site was visited by the RCAHMW on 21/02/2023. A further site visit took place on 30/10/2023. The wreck was more exposed on the second visit with a large scour pool having formed within the forward (northeastern) half of the wreck. Significant parts of the internal structure including the ends of hull beams and supporting wooden lodging knees were visible along the starboard side. This in turn indicates that a significant portion of the original hull is preserved within the sand. External planking visible on the port bow of the wreck was fastened with square-shafted brass nails, 12mm in cross-section, with round heads.

The identification of the vessel is not known, although a number of ships, with the same general length as this vessel, are known to have been lost in the area of Carmarthen Bay and Pembrey Sands. The brass plank fastenings identified on the wreck were known as 'yellow-metal' during the 19th century and they could only have been added to the vessel after the mid-1830s at the earliest. This may have taken place during its original construction, or during a period of repair. Either way, they indicate that the original ship must have been wrecked after the mid-1830s.

The DAISY (NPRN 271752), built in 1862, and recorded as being wrecked at Pembrey in 1877 is dimensionally consistent with the wreck, as is its construction and loss date. However, further research is required to confirm this identification.

Event and Historical Information:

The wreck was first recorded from aerial photographs in 1994 (DAT HER 30085) and is listed by the UKHO (ID12384) as an area of 'Foul Ground' with a radius of 30m.

The wreck was recorded in detail in 1996 (Page, 1997: 3; DAT HER 56958) which gives an identification as the Old Dan although that is contradicted by other HER entries (e.g. DAT HER 31412) which record that the Old Dan was turned stern to the shore which is the opposite orientation to Cefn Sidan Wreck 3.

The site was visited by the RCAHMW on 21/02/2023. A further site visit took place on 30/10/2023 when a photogrammetry survey of the extant remains was undertaken to create a baseline record for future monitoring.

Sources include:

Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER PRN 30085: https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=DAT30085

Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER PRN 31412: https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=DAT31412

Dyfed Archaeological Trust HER PRN 56958: https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=DAT56958 

Page, N. 1997. Cefn Sidan Wreck Recording Project. Cambria Archaeology Project No. 56958. Access via https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=DAT56958 

UKHO ID 12384: Contains public sector information, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, from UK Hydrographic Office.

J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, November 2023.