Bartholomew Ledges Wreck
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Bartholomew Ledges Wreck | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | North Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | England | official dataset |
| Position | 49.9061, -6.3315 | Historic England Protected Wreck Sites, listed latitude/longitude (OGL v3) |
| Protected Wreck | List entry 1000066 | Historic England |
| Designated | 1980-09-23 | Historic England |
| Restricted area | 7.06 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | SV 89108 09650 | Historic England |
About the wreck
The Bartholomew Ledges Wreck is a wreck found in the late 1970s at St Mary's Sound, Isles of Scilly is believed to be that of a mid-sixteenth to early seventeenth century armed cargo vessel. The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 23 September 1980. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.
Diving & visiting
This is a designated Protected Wreck under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. Under the Act, diving on or otherwise interfering with the wreck inside its restricted area requires a licence; see the Historic England list entry for details.
The wreck appears to be an armed cargo ship that grounded on Bartholomew Ledges and foundered. Spanish-type lead ingots likely dating to the sixteenth to early seventeenth century found within the vessel indicate that it is of Iberian origin, and possibly related to the Spanish Armada. Also found on the site were medieval bronze bell fragments that could be traced back to The Lord Nelson public house at Poole, Dorset. Further finds include breech-loading iron guns, anchors, pottery fragments, silver coins dating from 1474 to 1555, a gold seal, barrel spigots, iron and stone shot, buttons, and small lace brass objects.
The wreck site was found in the 1970s and was salvaged intensively until 1980 when salvage became prohibited after the designation of the wreck.
In 2003 the wreck was subject to an archaeological investigation which included the tagging of artefacts and survey of guns and anchors.
Location
- Recorded position: 49.9061, -6.3315 (Historic England Protected Wreck Sites, listed latitude/longitude (OGL v3); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: North Atlantic Ocean
- Nearest coast: England
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Bartholomew Ledges Wreck (revision 1362328066), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “The wreck”, “Discovery and investigation”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Protected Wreck data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
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- Wheel Wreck 1804 · 6 km
- HMS Association 1707 · 7 km
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Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off England · North Atlantic Ocean