Erme Ingot Site
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Erme Ingot Site | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | archaeological site, shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | English Channel | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | England | official dataset |
| Position | 50.3031, -3.9580 | Historic England Protected Wreck Sites, listed latitude/longitude (OGL v3) |
| Protected Wreck | List entry 1000054 | Historic England |
| Designated | 1993-11-24 | Historic England |
| Restricted area | 3.14 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | SX 60660 46628 | Historic England |
About the wreck
Between 1991 and 1992 an archaeological site containing tin ingots was uncovered close to West Mary's Rocks in Devon, England. Examination of the site revealed that these ingots may represent a wreck site, or the lost cargo from a ship. The ingots are believed to have been made before 1000 BC, during the later stages of the British Bronze Age. The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 24 November 1993. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England. The ingots found here are an important source of knowledge for prehistoric tin.
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 site including seven ingots was discovered by divers from South-West Maritime Archaeology Group in 1991–1992. Further investigation has identified over 40 tin ingots present within the site.
Location
- Recorded position: 50.3031, -3.9580 (Historic England Protected Wreck Sites, listed latitude/longitude (OGL v3); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: English Channel
- 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 Erme Ingot site (revision 1365048636), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “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).
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Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off England · English Channel