Archaeology Notes
Event ID 843539
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/843539
NS14SE 8001 175 489
N55 41.9 W4 54.3
NLO: Portencross [name: NS 175 490]
Farland Head [name: NS 177 485].
See also NS14NE 3 and NS14NE 8002 and NS15SE 28.
(Name cited as Portincross). 'This port and castle have become still more remarkable, from an occurrence that happened near them, and which deserves to be taken notice of here, namely, the loss of one of the Spanish ships, that composed the famous Armada, intended for the conquest of England, in the year 1588, in consequence of their dispersion by a storm, after the action with the English fleet. She sunk in about 10 fathom water, at no great distance from the shore. It is difficult to assign a reason for the accident; the probability is, that coming up the Frith, with easy weather, and all sail up, and ports open, a sudden gust from the land, which often happens in narrow seas, had overset her. An attempt was made, some more than 50 years ago, by means of a diving machine, to examine her situation, and whether it was possible to weigh her up, or to recover what was most valuable belonging to her. The diver reported, that from the size of her guns, she appeared to have been a capital ship; and a very large chest was perceived fixed upon deck. The operation succeeded so far, that some fine brass guns were brought up, and a smaller iron one, which still lies upon the beach. This piece of ordnance, has undergone many inspections, and various opinions have been formed about the weight of its shot. To judge from the caliber of it, in its present corroded state, it seems to have been a 14 or 16 pounder. A second attempt was to have been made, with a new and more complete apparatus, when, it is probable, much more of the wreck would have been recovered, but the death of one of the undertakers, unfortunately put an end to the scheme.'
OSA 1794.
An iron cannon, about 8ft long, traditionally from 'one of the large ships of the Spanish Armada which sank in about ten fathoms of water at no great distance from the shore' was recovered from the sea in 1740 and now lies at Portencross. Hewitt, after examining various accounts, concludes that the gun is either of late 16th or 17th century design, and is almost certainly Spanish. The remains of the ship that carried it lie somewhere between the point and Little Cumbrae. Although not necessarily a member of the Armada, as the Spanish navy was frequently in Scottish waters after 1588, it could be that the wreck was of a ship listed as 'fate unknown' by Philip's officials.
NSA 1845; G R Hewitt 1967.
NS 1756 4890. A much-rusted iron cannon, bearing an indecipherable coat of arms, lies on the beach 10.0m SE of Portencross Castle.
Visited by OS (DS), 12 September 1956
No change to the previous report. The cannon, 2.3m long with central pivot rods, rests on stone paving.
Visited by OS (JRL), 18 November 1982.
(No location or area of survey specified). In 1989, the [former] Archaeological Diving Unit carried out magnetometry and diver survey across an area with a local tradition of an Armada wreck. Several magnetic anomalies of uncertain significance were noted, most significantly on the rocks adjacent to a large stone tomb-slab, and a small cannon found concreted to the rocks.
Diving was carried out between 3 June and 8 June 1989 in depths of between 1 and 25m. The seabed was noted as trocky down to about 9m depth. Below this, the sediments become increasingly fine, with sand adjacent to the rocks and silt further down. Extensive growth of kelp and weed was noted on the rocks, but the sand and silt were clear of vegetation.
The only item of archaeological significance noted underwater was a stone slab which measured 2m by 1m, with ogee-decorated edges. This was apparently an uninscribed table-top tomb-slab of (probably) late 17th or early 18th century date.
The alleged 'Armada period' gun on display outside Portencross Castle was also considered to be of late 17th or early 18th century date. There was thus no evidence found for an Armada-period shipwreck in the area.
NMRS, MS/5540 (ADU report 043, dated 17 July 1989).
Cannon re-sited 1990 to location outside administrative offices of Hunterston Power Station (NS15SE 28). Other discoveries probably from the same wreck are held in the McLean Museum, Greenock.
(Undated) information in NMRS.
(No classification specified; date loss cited as 1588). Unknown: supposed Armada galleon.
Capt. Roe recovered brass cannon 1740 from 11 fathoms [depth].
(Location cited as N55 41.90 W4 54.40).
I G Whittaker 1998.
