This record comprises a documentary reference to a shipping casualty which has been assigned to the maritime named location RIVER SEVERN pending more information which may allow a more precise location for the loss to be assigned.

Event and Historical Information:
The FALCON was a wooden trow belonging to the port of Bristol. At time of loss on 11 December 1874, the vessel was owned by A Field of Saul near Stonehouse. Previous owners include Thomas Vendell Venn carrier of Bristol and Benjamin Danks carrier of Stourport. The trow was carrying coal from Newport to Bristol when it was caught at anchor during a southerly force 10 gale. The crew attempted to weigh anchor to run for shelter. The anchor was freed from the sand, but not brough back onboard so that it draggged for sometime and then fouled. Hampered by the fouled anchor and with waves breaking over the deck, the trow began fill. The crew took to their boat and soon after the FALCON foundered on the the Tail of the Spit. The Court of Inquiry found that the loss was due to stress of weather and the attempt to weigh anchor.

Sources include:
Board of Trade Wreck Return 1874 Part III pg78-9 (279)
Larn and Larn Shipwreck Database 2002
Port of Bristol Shipping Register Transactions Register 1858 onwards, Bristol Record Office 37908/2/2, Folio 90

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, December 2009.