Schiedam Prize Wreck
Website under constuction
The Discovery
The initial discovery in July, 1971 of several cannons, mostly deeply embedded in sand, initiated almost thirty years of protracted archaeological research and recovery. A later survey revealed a total of nine cannons, some barely visible through the sand, but no other artefacts.
The historical insights gained in those years ensured the wreck’s recognition as a site of considerable importance in the narrative of English maritime history.
Location
Off the coast in Cornwall on the Lizard Peninsula
The site lies approximately 100 metres offshore from a small, secluded cove, around one kilometre northwest of the Church of Gunwalloe on the Lizard Peninsula. There followed several months of local and national inquiries, but the site proved to be entirely unknown. This was remarkable—not least for its location, so effectively hidden, on a popular stretch of coast, and not far from an internationally recognised church. Inevitably, our extensive enquiries increasingly revealed the site’s significance and very approximate location, attracting unwelcome attention; at one point, a substantial sum was offered by a prominent local diver for the site’s location, but refused
Dollar Cove 2025 - Ailsa Maitland Photography
Dollar Cove,
Near Helston,
Cornwall
TR12 7QE
The Team
The size of some of the cannons suggested a vessel of considerable size, and any worthwhile investigation would require a well-experienced team of experts. The earlier enquiries had led to contact with a range of divers, historians, and other subject-matter specialists, from whom a select group was assembled based on expertise and genuine interest. The final team selected comprised Richard Larn, an author and amateur underwater archaeologist; Peter McBride, also an amateur underwater archaeologist; and Roy Davis, a professional commercial diver. Notably, both Larn and McBride were former Royal Navy divers.
After their first visit, all those invited agreed to become involved. A first priority was to produce a rough site plan of anything visible. Diving along coastlines exposed to ocean swells is notoriously difficult, and this location quickly proved no exception. With a maximum depth of only ten metres, even a half-metre swell made accurate triangulation impossible—and unnecessary, given how little of the site was exposed. The team therefore relied on sketch plans drawn from surface observations. Three such plans were made independently and later combined into a composite, sufficiently accurate to fix the main features, then visible, of the site.
Over the following months, many planned expeditions had to be cancelled due to heavy swells — even in summer. By late summer, sand accumulation had increased to the point that further work was no longer feasible.