Purton Hulks
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Purton Hulks | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Grounding or wreck on rocks | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Nearest coast | England | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 51.7320, -2.4610 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Purton Hulks or Purton Ships' Graveyard is a number of abandoned boats and ships, deliberately beached beside the River Severn near Purton in Gloucestershire, England, to reinforce the river banks. Most were beached in the 1950s and are now in a state of considerable decay. The site forms the largest ship graveyard in mainland Britain.
A riverbank collapse in 1909 led to concerns that the barrier between the river and the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal would be breached. Old vessels were run aground and soon filled with water and silt to create a tidal erosion barrier. The vessels included steel barges, Severn trows and concrete ships. The boats came from throughout the British Isles and were built in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th.
Since 2000, archaeological investigations have been undertaken to find out more about the vessels and their states of decay. Explanatory labels have been provided. One barge has been scheduled as an ancient monument and several are included in the National Register of Historic Vessels.
Diving & visiting
In 1999, a local maritime historian, Paul Barnett, commenced a privately funded research project which saw the site's 86 vessels recorded and recognised as the largest ships' graveyard in mainland Britain. The Nautical Archaeology Society investigated the site in 2008 as part of its Diving into History Project, and carried out laser scanning of the remains. In 2010, British Waterways took control of the site in an attempt to protect it.
The only known surviving Kennet barge, Harriett, which was beached at Purton in 1964, has been scheduled as an ancient monument and included in the National Register of Historic Vessels, as are several ferro concrete barges.
Location
- Recorded position: 51.7320, -2.4610 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- 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 Purton Hulks (revision 1376530809), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Preservation”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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