The remains of an unidentified wooden wreck are situated on the Warren Beach, Abersoch. The vessel has been identified in some sources as the wreck of the FOSIL, but this is unconfirmed and pending further research the wreck is currently considered as unidentified.

1. The remains of the lower portion of a wooden vessel measuring some 19.5m (64-68ft) in length and 5.4m in breadth. The keel lies orientated approximately 070/250 degrees (ENE/WSW) and is aligned with the beach. The bow is to the east-northeast. The remains comprises bow and stern, keel and broken keelson, floor timbers and first futtocks encased in interior ceiling planking (pine?) and exterior carvel planking. The stempost appears to not be insitu but may be represented by a timber with breaks the surface of the sand slightly to the northeast of the bow. Similarly, the sternpost is likely to be presented by an upright timber to the west-southwest. The wreck lies on its starboard side. Sections of planking have collapsed outwards on the port side. The starboard side remains buried, and hence is likely to have more structural coherence. The hull is fastened with wooden treenails. A planking repair on the starboard side near the stern features a large copper fastening. Interspersed between the hull timbers, lying on the surface within the wrecks and to the southwest of the stern are broken slates (cargo). Lying alongside the starboard run of planking is a large deck windlass. The lack of barnacle growth on the timbers confirms recent and not frequent exposure.

Source include:
field visit, Maritime Officer, 7 May 2013

WWW resources:
Exposure of wreck in 2009:
http://www.cimwch.com/blwyddyn%202009/seaman.jpg
Identity of FOSIL, lost in 1889, suggested:
http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/shipwrecks/llyn_shipwrecks/llyn_e.htm

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, May 2013.

2. The wreck was a study and monitoring site for the CHERISH EU funded Climate Change and Coastal Heritage Project 2017-2023.

Monitoring visit 26th April 2018 at a 0.9m low tide where the outline of the vessel was revealed well above the low water mark. The vessel was besanded so that only 0.32m of the bow timbers were protruding above the sand, and 0.3m of the stern timbers. Nonetheless the outline of the vessel was clear with several sections of timber and planking exposed around the perimeter. The outline of the vessel was recorded with GNSS and photogrammetry to gather baseline data, and a beach profile at the location was also recorded.

Monitoring visit 11 September 2018 at a 0.1m low tide. While nearby peats had become besanded, slightly more of the hulk was revealed than in the previous visit nearly 5 months before; the timbers stood 0.25-0.3m above the sand but were scoured out on the northern side revealing side planking of the vessel while the prow timbers stood exposed 0.45m above the sand.

A previously unrecorded wreck (NPRN 423310) was recorded approximately 150m east of the presumed FOSIL, closer to the low water mark.

Monitoring visit 23 January 2019. Condition and exposure was similar to that recorded on 11 September 2018.

Monitoring visit 1 October 2019 at a 0.3m low tide. Visit by CHERISH and the Nautical Archaeology Society and Malvern Archaeological Diving Unit. This wreck was less exposed than in the previous CHERISH visits since April 2018, with the southern side more exposed than the northern. The possible stern at the southwestern end was exposed and was 0.6m above the sand. The stern was noted to have been thickened by using several pieces of wood combined to make it 1.06m long. This thickening could have been to hold a rudder. Broken shell and subrounded pebbles are found in the sand around the wreck. The exposed timbers are covered in Carragheen Chondrus crispus and sea lettuce Ulva lactuca. A tree nail could be seen on one futtock exposed near the bow on the southern side. The bow was 0.2m above the sand.

Monitoring visit 18 September 2020. The wreck was largely besanded and less exposed than in the previous CHERISH visits since April 2018. Only the bow end of the vessel was visible, with the tops of the frame a maximum 0.2m above the sand.

Monitoring visit 29 March 2021. The wreck was besanded and no elements of it were visible.

Monitoring visit 21 October 2021. The wreck was besanded and no elements of it were visible.

L. Barker, T. Driver, D. Hunt, CHERISH (RCAHMW).

CHERISH PROJECT. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2020. https://cherishproject.eu/en/

3. Local author Elfed Gruffydd notes: There is a record of a ship named the Maria being grounded here in 1872. There were also remains of 2 ships here the Seaman and the Fossil, but former was moved from the site by a tractor.

4. The site was visited by the RCAHMW on 23/02/2023 and surveyed via photogrammetry. The wreck was almost completely buried by sand. The results of the survey can be viewed here

Cymraeg: https://skfb.ly/oEQMn

English: https://skfb.ly/oG8zZ

Site Record

Warren Beach Wreck 1