Sanday Wreck: £21,000 funding boost for further research into Orkney shipwreck

6 December 2024, 10:43 | Updated: 6 December 2024, 13:31

Archaeologists have been given a £21,000 funding boost to carry out further research into a shipwreck found washed ashore on an Orkney beach.

The timbers were discovered on the Sands o'Erraby on Sanday amid winter storms in February.

They have since been moved to a freshwater conservation tank at the island's heritage centre.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has now awarded £21,000 to Wessex Archaeology and Dendrochronicle to continue investigations into the Sanday Wreck.

HES said the in-depth analysis will be "crucial for identifying the significance of the wreck", including where it came from, when it was built, and what it can tell researchers about the networks of maritime trade and exchange which flowed through and around Orkney and connected the islands to the world.

Susan O'Connor, head of grants at HES, said: "The wreck on Sanday is an incredible and rare finding, providing an exciting opportunity to study and preserve a unique facet of Orkney's past.

"We're thrilled to be supporting the work of Wessex Archaeology as they carry out this work, whilst also providing a rare opportunity to engage local and wider audiences with marine archaeology."

HES brought Wessex Archaeology on board following the initial discovery of the wreck.

Dendrochronicle, an organisation that specialises in dendrochronology, also joined the project and was tasked with sampling 19 timbers.

Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating tree rings to provide precise dating and provenance information.

The move to the conservation tank in September was secured thanks to a £79,658 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) to Orkney Islands Council.

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This new HES funding will allow the specialists at Dendrochronicle to carry out further assessment and analysis of the tree-ring samples.

It is hoped this will provide precise dating evidence for the vessel and supply clues as to where the ship was built.

Wessex Archaeology's coastal and marine experts will then explore the results to establish what the timbers can reveal about the development of shipbuilding during a time when large sailing vessels were the pinnacle of technological advancement.

Working with community researchers and Sanday Heritage Centre, the project will also seek to bring together an island-centric archive of wrecks.

Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist from Wessex Archaeology, said: "The opportunity to complete dendrochronological dating and further research on this incredible piece of Orkney's history is extremely exciting.

"It could allow us to identify the ship and its origin, adding to our understanding of the complex maritime connections within the North Sea.

"We look forward to working with researchers in Sanday and at Dendrochronicle to write a new part of the island's story."