The potential presence of the wreck was initially identified during inspection of aerial photos, originally taken in 2010, relating to Goodwick Fishtrap 1 (NPRN 407699). Direct site inspection was undertaken by J.Whitewright in November 2021 as part of the CHERISH Project and confirmed that a section of wooden ship was buried in the foreshore, 25 metres to the west-southwest of the fishtrap. At that time, only the western section of remains was discernable as part of the wreck and this was subject to further recording via a photogrammetry survey in April 2022, and further supplementary inspection in June 2023.
During work in March 2025 to create a 3D Digital record of the fishtrap a further, larger section of wreckage comprising a deeply buried ship's hull was noted five metres to the east (15m southwest of the fishtrap), and it is considered likely that these two pieces of shipwreck are derived from the same original vessel based on their physical proximity and close correlation between timber dimensions. The vessel is currently unidentified, but could correspond to several of the small wooden ships recorded as lost within Fishguard Bay, and Goodwick in particular, over the years.
Eastern Section
The eastern part of the site comprises the deeply buried remains of a ship's hull, orientated 150/330 degrees, 13m (42ft) in length and heeled over to the north. Two end-posts are identifiable, most probably with a stem-post to the southeast, and a stern-post to the northwest. A run of sporadically visible frame ends forms a curve around the eastern side of the hull, with a maximum width of 2.5m from a line drawn between the end-posts. The possible bow of the vessel at the southeastern end comprises two large extant timbers ste next to one another. The outer of these is 9" (c.230mm) moulded and 7" (c.180mm) sided. The inner post, to the northwest of this was too degraded for a measurement to be taken. Amidships, on the eastern side of the hull, a number of well preserved frame tops (5" moulded by 4.5" sided) were visible between a pair of iron reinforcement straps running vertically up the inboard side of ceiling planking (1.5" (38mm) thick). A further post, too degraded to be measured is visible at the northern end of the wreck, along with several ends of hull planks.
Western Section
The extant structure is orientated 260/080 degrees and extends to a maximum length of 9.8m of visible remains, with a width of 2.8m. It comprises 17 pairs of frame tops protruding 10-20mm above the sand-level, describing a gentle curve along the northern side of the visible remains hull. Further timber tops are sporadically visible on the southern side, but with no discernible pattern. There is no appreciable overall shape, or obvious fore-and-aft alignment, which seems to indicate that the remains are a broken section of the original hull, probably part of its side.
The pairs of frames are between 250-300mm combined width, with a space between pairs of 150-200mm. The individual frames are 4.5" (c.120mm) sided and c. 6" (c.150mm) moulded. A run of external planking (minimum thickness 1.4" (35mm)) is in-situ on the outboard, western side. Ceiling planking (8.4" (215mm) in width, 1.1-1.4" (30-35mm) thick) is visible at the southern end of the hull and attached to the frame below with an unwedged treenail (1.1" (30mm) diameter).
Sources Include:
RCAHMW Photogrammetry Survey, PGS2022_020, 19/04/2025. View Here: https://skfb.ly/pxOVK
RCAHMW Site Visit, 05/11/2021, 19/04/2022, 30/03/2025
J.Whitewright, RCAHMW, May 2025.
CHERISH PROJECT 2017. Produced with EU funds through the Ireland Wales Co-operation Programme 2014-2020.