Find Spot MPM2072 - Probable ship timber structure, Portsmouth Harbour

Large three section hardwood timber structure recovered by a diver in 2015 during the Queen Elizabeth Class Capital Dredge Project in Portsmouth Harbour.

A large three section hardwood structure, heavily eroded and incomplete. Two of the sections had been joined together using a scarf joint secured with bolts. The third piece had been bolted onto the other sections. Caulking found in the scarf joint suggested the structure had been waterproofed and was intended to be used in a marine environment. The surviving structure measured 6.44m long with a maximum width of 0.73m and maximum depth of 0.34m.

It was thought this object was most likely to represent part of a wooden ship, possibly the deck or its supporting structure. As this appeared to be an isolated find it was interpreted as debris rather than part of a wreck, possibly the result of ship maintenance or breaking activities in the dockyard. Thought to date to no later than the first half of the 19th century.

UID: BWL1_0019 in Queen Elizabeth Class Capital Dredge Project report.

Wessex Archaeology, 2018, Queen Elizabeth Class Capital Dredge Project Her Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth: Archaeological Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SPM646.