An unidentified wooden shipwreck was exposed on Llandanwg Beach in late autumn 2024. Further observation took place on 29/12/2024 by local bird-watchers during a weekly visit to the beach. It was inspected again on 01/01/2025, and measured by the same group on 03/01/2025. The exposed timbers were reported as having little or no sign, of marine growth, damage by marine borers, or physical erosion suggesting a recent and short-lived exposure.
No evidence for the wreck is visible in aerial photographs from 2005 onwards. Neither is it visible in historic RAF photos from 1951. An Ordnance Survey aerial photograph from 1971 shows a number of darker shadows in the beach sand, in roughly the right area for the wreck, but these are ambiguous. Llandanwg Beach was subject to a brief archaeological walkover survey by Wessex Archaeology in 2013, but no archaeological features were observed relating to the wreck described above, further suggesting that it is a wreck exposed for the first time.
The site was visited by the RCAHMW on 28/03/2025 during a low spring tide, along with members of the bird-watching group. The site was surveyed using a photogrammetry survey and details of the archaeological character of the wreck recorded (below).
Archaeological Remains
The Llandanwg Beach Wreck is the remains of a wooden, carvel built vessel, extending for at least 12.5m in length. It is aligned roughly north/south with one end of the vessel, it is unclear which, visible at the southern end. The extant remains are characterised by a series of frame ends, elements of planking, and one end of the ship, protruding for up to 0.4m from the surrounding beach. The hull is filled with sand and beach boulders, with a few seemingly intrusive, non-rounded stones that may be ballast or a former cargo.
A stem/stern post (8.5" (216mm) sided, 12" (305mm) moulded) is exposed at the southern end of the wreck, heeled over to the east (inland). This carries a rebate (1.5" (38mm) deep) to allow for the lands of the outer plank hood-end. An inner-post (6" (150mm) square) is to directly to the north of the stem/stern post. A further broken timber (2-3" (50-75mm) width) of no obvious form, lies to the south, which may be part of the vessel's rudder.
At the time of the RCAHMW visit (28/03/2025) 19 frame ends were visible on the western side of the wreck, and four on the eastern side. Where well-preserved at the exposed level, the frame-ends are generally 5" (127mm) square, and set on 14"-16" (355-405mm) centre-to-centre spacing. There is evidence for larger frames at either end of the wreck, those at the northern end being 10" (254mm) sided and 5" (127mm) moulded, and 8" (203mm) sided and 5" (127mm) moulded at the southern end. On the visible frames, there was no evidence for any lateral fastenings between frames.
Outer planking is 2" (50mm) thick in most places, but with some 1.5" (38mm) planking that would have been higher up the original vessel. Where observable, outer planks were 8.5" (216mm) in width. The majority of observed plank fastenings were wooden treenails, c.1" (25mm) in diameter. In one case it was possible to observe that outer-plank scarphs were formed with a butt-end, placed over a frame. In some places, the marks left by square shafted iron nails could be found in the inboard surface of the frame timbers. A single iron fastening, heavily concreted was located on the beach surface within the wreck. This was loose, so not confirmed as being from the ship, but was part of an iron bolt, 1.5" (38mm) in diameter.
The wreck is heeled over to the east (landward). As such, the exposed timbers on the western side are likely to be lower in the hull, than the more limited exposure on the eastern side. This is seemingly born out by the thicker outer planking on the western side, than on the eastern side. With the above in mind, the exposed run of frame ends along the western side of the wreck are likely to be first futtocks, with a set of corresponding floor timbers buried in the beach sediment along the centreline of the wreck. A substantial part of the original hull is likely to be buried in the beach, in a highly preserved state.
The date of the wreck is not clear. Its carvel construction (flush laid planks with no edge-joins) places it in the post-medieval period. But the size of the frames relative to the overall dimensions of the wreck, coupled with the general absense of iron work, and total absence of copper/brass fastenings, might suggest a date that is earlier, rather than later, within the overall post-medieval context.
Sources Include:
Brian Macdonald, Wreck Survey, Llandanwg Beach, reported to RCAHMW on 06/01/2025.
RCAHMW Ordnance Survey Aerial Photography Collection, 71_234_113: https://coflein.gov.uk/en/archive/6441916/
RCAHMW Photogrammetry Survey, DS2025_127_LlandanwgBeachWreck, 28/03/2025. View here: https://skfb.ly/pvywv
RCAHMW Royal Air Force Vertical Aerial Photography Collection, 540_464_4033: https://coflein.gov.uk/en/archive/6100877/
Wessex Archaeology, 2013. Undesignated Inter-tidal Sites Porth Neigwl, Llandanwg and Pensarn, Wales. RCAHMW Ref. AENT34_06: see also https://coflein.gov.uk/media/36/217/aent34_06.pdf
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, April 2025.