THE NEWPORT SHIP, THE “MARY ROSE” OF SOUTH WALES
On 21 April 2016, the History Group welcomed Mr Phil Cox, the Chair of the Friends of Newport Ship. The audience heard an excellent presentation about the vessel found in 2002 in Newport during excavations for the new riverside theatre. The large merchant ship had been well-preserved by the anoxic river sediment, although the stern had been destroyed by the recent pile driving.
Erroneously called “the Newport Boat” at times, the vessel was certainly a ship (the old naval adage that “a ship carries boats” is a good way to remember the difference).
The archaeologists moved in and building work was severely delayed, costing Newport Council £1.2 million; advice to take out insurance for £60,000 to cover such an eventuality had been declined.
In August 2002, the site was opened to the public; there were 17,000 visitors on the first day, with up to 10,000 on the second, prompting a successful campaign to preserve the ship.
The vessel had to be de-constructed to remove it from the preserving mud and when the keel was lifted, a skeleton was found. This proved to be unconnected with the ship; it was that of a young man, who had lived in the 4th Century. He had been beheaded and had had his feet cut off, before his body had been put in the Usk, to float downstream to rest in the Newport mud.
Every piece of the 2,000 significant timbers was documented and imaged. Digital reconstruction and analysis indicated a two-decked, three-masted ship at least 35 metres long (over 110 feet), with a beam of around 8 metres (26 feet), weighing 400 tons and capable of carrying 75 tons of cargo. Her crew would have numbered 30-50. Dendrochronology data was consistent with a vessel built around 1449 in the Basque region of Spain, able to withstand Bay of Biscay storms. Sometime around 1468, she had ended her career in an inlet of the Usk in Newport.
The recovered timbers were soaked in water, cleaned and then left in solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to preserve them, followed by freeze-drying. This work benefited greatly from knowledge gained during the conservation efforts on Portsmouth’s “Mary Rose”.
Artefacts were found: coins, merchants’ tokens, an hour glass, screw heads, pottery shards, combs, a knife, parts of a helmet, an archer’s wrist brace, and 13 single shoes. One coin, a French silver petit blanc, identified as minted in 1447, had been set in a timber, probably as a good luck charm during construction. There were also human fleas, bones (chicken, pig and 17 types of fish), seeds, nuts and various fruits.
A document in the Earl of Warwick’s archives names a vessel as the “Marie de Bayonne” at Newport; this may well be the ship found in the mud.
Visitors are welcome to learn more at the Newport Medieval Ship Centre, which is open Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays. See the website www.newportship.org for the latest details.
As it was the Queen’s 90th Birthday, an enjoyable meeting concluded with celebratory tea and cakes – a treat welcomed by all. Many thanks to Anna Andrew for suggesting and organising it.
Steve Monaghan