Studland Bay Wreck
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | Studland Bay Wreck | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Sea / ocean | English Channel | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | England | official dataset |
| Position | 50.6614, -1.9145 | Historic England Protected Wreck Sites, listed latitude/longitude (OGL v3) |
| Protected Wreck | List entry 1000045 | Historic England |
| Designated | 1984-10-22 | Historic England |
| Restricted area | 1.77 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | SZ 06137 84641 | Historic England |
About the wreck
The remains of an armed cargo vessel were discovered in 1983 in Studland Bay, off Dorset, England. The site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act on 22 October 1984. 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 site consists of remains of a wreck constructed with carvel planking. Around 750 objects were recovered from the wreck including; cannon and cannonballs, wooden items, ballast stones, barrel staves and hoops, firewood, cordage, leather, textiles, seeds, bones, and early sixteenth century pottery. The ballast stones originate from the Basque region of Spain. The style of ship construction and the pottery indicate that the wreck dates to around 1520, and originates from Spain. It is believed that the ship was engaged in trade with England.
The site was discovered in 1983 by divers investigating a fisherman's net fastening. The wreck was excavated between 1984 and 1986, the heel of the keel was raised in 1986.
Location
- Recorded position: 50.6614, -1.9145 (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 Studland Bay Wreck (revision 1305563739), 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).
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