The Southampton Beach Shipwreck - 2004 Excavation
SEE ARTIFACTS UPDATE – DEC. 13
(See Canadian Conservation Institute Newsletter
#32)
Introduction
For those who visit this site regularly and read the Shipwreck “Latest News”
section, you already will know a great deal about the wreck discovered on the
Southampton Beach in 2001. This section will bring you up to date on what we now
have learned about the wreck after a nine-week period of excavation which ended
on July 15. Our research is just in its initial stage on the artifacts we found
and the ship construction information we gathered, but we do have some
first-look observations which we can share with all those interested in the
wreck. As this research continues we'll keep site visitors informed about any
new developments. We'll also advise readers of any new activities related to the
shipwreck work which might be of interest. As the story is updated, new items
will be flagged for your attention.
This new item begins with an excavation photo story, followed by ship
construction notes from shipwreck recorder Stan McClellan and historical
background notes from historian Patrick Folkes on the possible identity of the
shipwreck. All of the photos used throughout this new piece were taken by
project photographer Larry LePage.
Project Background
If you have followed the shipwreck story on this site you will have read about
the 2001 and 2002 initial excavations and seen pictures of the work and some
portions of the wrecks uncovered during that work. You will know that the wreck
site was discovered when low lake levels and a heavy spring ice scour in 2001
uncovered about a dozen ship frames sticking up through the beach sand. We
learned through the test excavations in 2001 and 2002 that there were not one,
but two wrecks lying under the sand and almost touching. We know now that the
frames sticking out of the sand were those of a two-masted ship from the period
around 1800. We also know that, under the sand just to the north of the ship,
lie the remains of a small work barge probably from the 1870's period.
Based on what we learned in those excavations, we suggested that the shipwreck
probably was that of the Weazell, a small British merchant schooner built at
Detroit in 1786 and lost here at Southampton in 1798. As you will see below,
based on the artifacts we found and the construction information we recorded, it
appears now that the wreck is not the Weazell but a naval ship which saw
considerable military service, probably in the War of 1812. More on this in the
sections that follow.
The 2004 Excavation
The 2004 excavation work began on May 10th when we installed our construction
trailer Site Office at the foot of Morpeth Street in Southampton and fenced off
the wreck site –– about 20 metres by 40 metres –– on the beach between Morpeth
and Palmerston Streets.
Actual digging started a few days later, in area of the site east of the wreck
remains, with the excavation of standard archaeological one-metre square units (Photo
1) over a grid area covering over 300 square metres. The excavation began in
the east section of the site so we could gradually work our way westward, down
and toward the wreck, keeping the beach profile at a low angle of approach to
the remains, and thus avoiding steep and dangerous sidewalls surrounding the
wreck. All the sand from these units was screened for artifacts. It took close
to four weeks of digging by hand and wheel-barrowing tons of sand off the site
and into screens for careful inspection (Photos 2 &
3) before excavators reached the level where the
remains of the wreck lay (Photos 4 &
5). When the ship level was reached in the sand, the
frames along the starboard side of the vessel were the first to be excavated (Photo
6). After a setback which saw the lake overpower our sand break-wall and
re-bury the site, excavation resumed but now on both starboard and port sides
simultaneously, including a large section of the stern (Photo
7). Gradually most of the interior of the vessel was uncovered until only
the central section, including the ballast pile, remained to be excavated (Photo
8). Now the much more difficult task of excavating the full interior, down
to the keelson and ceiling planking (ship floor) began. This final phase of the
excavation took over two weeks to complete. Hundreds of ballast stones had to be
recorded and carefully moved from the area around the mainmast step (Photo
9). As well, this section of the site was very busy in terms of artifacts
which meant considerable time was needed to document and record all these
objects (Photo 10). In the end, it was July 8th
before the shipwreck interior was fully exposed and pumped relatively free of
ground water (Photos 11 &
12). With the full interior visible on the beach, public interest in the
wreck reached a peak with more than 200 people attending the daily afternoon
site tour and talk sessions conducted by the project staff (Photo
13). At this point, the wooden shipwreck remains now were showing the
effects of even this short period of exposure to the air and the drying sun. A
couple of final days with the ship fully uncovered were used to record the
remaining ship construction details (Photo 14).
Then, in order to return the shipwreck to the wet, stable sand environment which
protected it for around 200 years, the protective wall of about three-thousand
sandbags was removed from behind the concrete break-wall and Lake Huron was
allowed to break through and bury the site again in its own non-destructive but
most effective way (Photo 15).
The Artifacts [UPDATED DEC. 13]
The artifacts from the site cover a wide range of objects (Photos
16, 17,
18, 19,
20, 21 &
22) from organic material such as a leather shoe,
very fragile pieces of rope and small wood items, to large and small iron
objects including hundreds of iron nails, spikes, drift bolts and other
fasteners of various kinds. Hundreds of ceramic pieces from a wide variety of
plates, bowls, etc., ranging in size from one centimetre to ten centimetres in
length, were found in all areas of the site. Our finds also included: a few
personal items such as clay pipes and eating utensils; 36 buttons, 18 of them
from military uniforms; and a number of other military items including the four
cannon balls, dozens of musket balls, a musket bayonet, small parts of a musket
or pistol and two or three gunflints.
The process of examining, cataloguing and recording the artifacts recovered from
the site was completed early in December and the vast majority of these are now
at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa where they are being cleaned
and treated. The artifacts were transported to Ottawa using the Bruce County
Museum and Archives van. Our thanks to Director/Curator Barbara Ribey and the
staff at the museum for making the van available, at no cost to the project.
Over the coming months – and in some cases years - conservators Tara Grant and
Charlotte Newton and other staff members at CCI will be working on artifacts
from the site. Some items, including the four cannon balls, already have been
cleaned and conserved and are now back in Southampton ready to go on display.
The remainder are either being worked on by the CCI staff or being held in a
stabilizing environment (cold temperatures) until they move into the
cleaning/conservation process.
In the “Initial Observations” section below you will find some thoughts on what
the shipwreck artifacts are telling us.
Ship Construction Notes –– Stan McClellan
What remains of the vessel is the bottom along its full length and including a
small portion of the port side and a larger amount of the starboard side, parts
of which extend up to include the side of the hull. The wreckage lies over on
its starboard side at an angle of some 19 degrees. As can be seen in Photos
13 and 14, views from
both the bow and the stern ends, the timbers used in the ship construction are
quite heavy. In the case of the frames, it will be noted that they are of
generous proportions and spaced very closely together. In addition, the frames
are put together in pairs, making the frame structure almost solid. The frames
vary in width between 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm.) and at the upper end of the
visible portions they are approximately 6 to 7 inches (15 to 18 cm.) deep. The
gap between frame sets is 5 to 6 inches (13 to 15 cm.). Most ceiling (interior)
planking is 2 inches (5 cm.) thick while those portions of the exterior planking
that we were able to measure are about 2.5 inches (6.5 cm.) thick. The one
exception is a portion of a wale timber which is approximately 3 inches (7.6
cm.) thick.
The overall length of the remaining portion of the vessel is 53 feet 10 inches
(16.41 cm.). The maximum overall width of the remaining wreckage is around 17
feet (5.2 m.). A close look at the photos show a damaged section at the port bow
as well as a fairly severe shattering of the timbers at midships on the
starboard side. There also is strong evidence that, at some point in time, the
vessel was burned. Two mast steps are visible, the foremast step being set into
the keelson while the mainmast step is a saddle type, laid over and locked into
place on the keelson. The other important and notable points made during the
survey, and for the most part visible in the photos, is the apparent
craftsmanship used in the construction. Many of the joints are as tight and
solid today as they were approximately 200 years ago when the vessel was first
built.
Initial Observations
The ship construction points noted above - especially the size of the timbers,
the close frame spacing and the craftsmanship of the work - all suggest the
vessel was built to the rigid specifications of a naval contract. These
construction points and a preliminary examination of a number of the artifacts,
lead us now to believe that the wreck could not be that of the merchant vessel
the Weazell. The number, variety and distribution of military artifacts found on
the wreck speak emphatically of a ship which saw naval service over an extended
period of time. This number and range of military items does not appear to be
consistent with a vessel which only occasionally is transported military
personnel, which, to the best of our knowledge, was the case with the Weazell.
Even more telling in this respect, are the British and U.S. military buttons
found on the wreck. At least three of the British buttons are from military
regiments which were not formed, or which were not in Canada, until some years
after the Weazell was lost at Southampton. Also, it appears that at least one of
the U.S. military buttons is of a type not manufactured until 1807. That would
mean this particular button was not being made until nine years after the wreck
of the Weazell . When we combine this information with the construction
observations made by Stan McClellan, it is difficult now to fashion a scenario
which would support the identification of the shipwreck as the Weazell . Our
research on this is just beginning and there is much to do before we reach any
new conclusion on the possible identity of the shipwreck. In the meantime, as he
outlines in the “Historical Background” section below, historian Patrick Folkes
feels there is enough evidence already to suggest the Provincial Marine brig the
General Hunter as a definite candidate in the search for the identity of the
Southampton Beach Shipwreck.
Historical Background - Patrick Folkes
In the historical record the area of Chantry Island and the approaches to the
Saugeen Riveer are believed to have claimed two of the earliest shipwrecks on
Lake Huron - the schooner Weazell in 1798 and the brig Hunter in 1816. In these
craft are represented the most important themes in the early history of Great
Lakes navigation.
The Weazell, launched at Detroit in 1786, was a diminutive craft owned by John
Askin , a Detroit businessman and fur trader. It commonly sailed between Fort
Erie and Detroit, and between Detroit and Michilimakinac and Sault Ste. Marie,
transporting supplies north and bringing away the products of the fur trade. In
1794, the Weazell was only one of nine privately owned vessels on the Upper
Lakes. Among these was the Saguina, Swan, Nancy, and the Beaver and Arabaska
belonging to the North West Company. Each was small, less than 70 tons and under
80 feet in length. These few ships, entirely British in ownership, formed the
nucleus of a pioneer fleet which laid the foundation of a vast system of
ship-borne commerce in the nineteenth century.
Here also began a continuous chronicle of marine disasters. Although her end is
shrouded in mystery, the Weazell was one of the first of her kind to be wrecked
on Lake Huron. Perhaps only the Wyandot of 1789 is earlier. And among the
business records of John Askin is a document placing the Weazell at Southampton.
It thus became the prime candidate for the identification of the Southampton
Beach shipwreck which was fully excavated just a few weeks ago. But during the
“dig” the recovery of datable artifacts showed that although the wreck was that
of a very early ship it was not that of the Weazell.
However, these same artifacts indicated another older tradition in the history
of the Great Lakes, that of the armed ship. Since the 1760's the British had
maintained warships on the Lakes. From the days of the Pontiac rebellion in
1763, through the American revolution and the uncertainties of the relationship
with the new Republic in the 1790's, the challenges posed by the appearance of
both American naval and commercial craft, a long list of ships cruised the
waters of Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. Bearing the evocative names of naval
supremacy, such as Victory, General Gage, and Earl of Dunmore, they linked the
outports of the empire (often sailing in the wake of commercial craft such as
the Weazell ), transporting soldiers and officials, and securing the tangible
symbols of the colonial government.
Among the armed British ships which saw service in the first decade of the
nineteenth century was the brig General Hunter, launched at Amherstburg in 1807.
Named after Peter Hunter, late commander of the British forces and
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, the new vessel was armed with six cannons
and joined in service the Earl of Camden, also built at Amherstburg. In 1810 the
Queen Charlotte replaced the Camden, thus leaving the Hunter as the only naval
vessel with a draught enabling her to clear the shallows of the St. Clair River
and enter Lake Huron.
In the meantime, the United States launched the brig Adams in 1801, thereby
announcing an American naval and military presence on Lake Erie. A decade later,
as the War of 1812 began, both sides rapidly expanded their squadrons in what
became a bitter contest for supremacy on the Upper Lakes. The General Hunter and
Queen Charlotte were joined by the Detroit, Lady Prevost, Little Belt, and
Chippewa. It was the little fleet which met their American counterparts in the
Battle of Lake Erie in September, 1813. The outcome was a resounding defeat for
the British; all of their ships were captured.
When the war ended early in 1815 the former British warships lay in the American
naval base at Presq'Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania). In July, 1815, the General
Hunter was sold off to a private owner, John Dickson , and renamed simply
Hunter.
The history of the Hunter in commercial service is not yet known in detail, but
it was brief. In August, 1816, Captain John Davis took her to Mackinac Island,
at the head of Lake Huron, with a cargo of government stores. On the return trip
she was caught in a severe storm and blown across the lake to the vicinity of
the Saugeen River. Here she was wrecked, becoming a total loss.
In addition to its role in the defence of Upper Canada the General Hunter may
have left another legacy. Her dimensions appear to fit the hull uncovered at
Southampton and the large number of British and American military artifacts,
uncovered during the recent excavation, can be explained by the history of the
vessel. But there is more research to be done and a final resolution of the
mystery still lies ahead. All that is presently certain is that the Weazell and
the Hunter represent two distinct themes in the early history of the Upper Lakes
- the merchant trade and the naval service. And both have added to the rich
heritage of Southampton's shipwrecks.
Final Note
As indicated above, the research on the artifacts recovered during the recent
shipwreck excavation and on the possible identity of the wreck is really only
just beginning. In the near future we expect to be able to provide you with
information on a number of other aspects of the site, including some details on
the ballast pile which surrounded the mainmast step on the wreck and some
preliminary information on the hundreds of ceramic pieces found on the site.
Chantry Island website readers are invited to visit the site on a regular basis
to check for new or updated information and additional shipwreck and research
photographs.
In the meantime, comments on the content of the shipwreck story are welcome at
the email address cassavoy@bmts.com .
Ken Cassavoy
Marine Archaeologist
Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project
Research Associate, Department of Anthropology - Trent University
**************************************
Earlier News Releases on the Project
NEWS RELEASE - August 06 - Southampton, Ontario
Southampton Shipwreck Probably A Naval Vessel
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says initial results of the major excavation
of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck, indicate the wreck appears to have been a
naval vessel not a merchant ship. Earlier test excavations and concurrent
research suggested the wreck was probably the British merchant schooner the
WEAZELL. The latest, nine-week-long complete excavation of the wreck interior
ended two weeks ago and provided the project team with artifacts which now
indicate the shipwreck probably occurred at a point in time some years after the
WEAZELL was lost. The excavation also provided ship construction information
which indicates it probably was built to the specifications of a naval
contract..
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered
about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach. Two
short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site in 2001 and 2002
provided enough information for researchers to suggest the remains were those of
the WEAZELL lost at Southampton in 1798. Cassavoy says the results of the recent
complete excavation indicate the ship is from the right period, the late 1700’s
or early 1800’s, but also show it undoubtedly saw service as a naval vessel for
a fairly lengthy period of time. Artifacts found on the wreck include more than
30 buttons, most of them British or U.S. military buttons, as well as four
larger calibre cannonballs, numerous musket balls, two gunflints, a musket
bayonet, and parts of at least two pistols or muskets. A small, one-pounder
swivel cannon was found on the wreck during the 2002 test excavation.
Project Director Cassavoy says the core project team of Shipwreck Recorder Stan
McClellan, Assistant Field Director Leslie Currie and Marine Historian Patrick
Folkes agree the military buttons are key to the revised identification of the
ship. At least two of the buttons appear to be from uniforms of British military
regiments which were not formed until several years after the WEAZELL was lost.
According to Cassavoy a great deal more study has to be done before the project
makes any new suggestion on the identity of the shipwreck. However, historian
Folkes believes the wreck may be that of the GENERAL HUNTER, a British naval
brig built in 1806 and captured by the Americans in the Battle of Lake Erie in
1813. In August of 1816, sailing as a U.S. merchant vessel and with the ship
name shortened to HUNTER, the brig was recorded as having been wrecked on the
eastern shore of Lake Huron one hundred miles north of the entrance to the St.
Clair River. While that would put the wreck in about the right location,
Cassavoy cautions that until all the hundreds of excavation artifacts are
carefully examined and the list of all potential shipwreck candidates -
including the HUNTER - are fully researched, the project will not make any
official statement concerning the possible identity of the ship.
Cassavoy says, “I’m disappointed the wreck probably is not the WEAZELL but
that’s what archaeology is all about, that’s why we undertook the excavation, so
we could better understand exactly how the ship was built and to try to find
artifacts that would confirm the identity. In this case, of course, the
excavation results now appear to be moving us in quite a different direction.
Our work has shown we have the remains of a beautiful little vessel buried on
the beach and my colleagues McClellan, Currie and Folkes are all very excited by
the new findings. They believe a naval vessel of this very early period on Lake
Huron is a rare find and probably of greater historic interest than a merchant
ship.”
An initial descriptive summary of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck Excavation
work, with photos of the various stages of the excavation and of some artifacts,
is to be posted on the www.chantryisland.com website by the middle of August. .
A 2004 Project Report is to be completed in January of 2005 and copies will be
made available for purchase by the public.
Southampton is located 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist/Project
Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project, 519/797-2944. Email cassavoy@bmts.com.]
The Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project
NEWS RELEASE - April 13, 2004 - Southampton, Ontario
Oldest Great Lakes Shipwreck to be Completely Excavated
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says a shipwreck, believed to be the oldest
ever discovered on the Great Lakes, is to be fully excavated on the Southampton
Beach starting on May 17. Cassavoy says the wreck, dated to the late 1700’s,
probably is the merchant schooner “Weazell” built in 1786 at Detroit and lost at
Southampton in 1798.
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered
about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach.
Since then, two short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site
have revealed the presence of substantial remains of this earliest wreck, buried
under the sand. During the 2002 work, excavators found a small-bore swivel
cannon lying in the hold of the wreck, a unique find on a Great Lakes merchant
ship.
On May 17th, the excavation team is to begin opening up the entire interior of
the vessel as well as the full exterior on the starboard side of the schooner.
Cassavoy says the excavation, carried out under his Archaeological License from
the Ontario Ministry of Culture, is to take about eight weeks to complete and
will provide full details on how this historic merchant vessel was constructed.
It also will provide details necessary for the possible lifting, conservation
and museum display of the wreck. At the same time, the work may provide
artifacts which could help confirm the date and identity of the vessel.
The research and excavation of the shipwreck is supported by a number of
businesses and institutions including; The Southampton Marine Heritage
Committee; Trent University-Symons Trust Fund; Town of Saugeen Shores; Westario
Power; Ontario Power Generation; Markle’s Pumping Service; BJS Electric;
Clearwater Well Boring; Electronic Data Systems/EDS; The Canadian Conservation
Institute/CCI; and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee/OMHC.
With no funding available for project crew, all the work will be done by
volunteer excavators working under the direction of volunteer professional
archaeologists. Cassavoy, a Research Associate at Trent University in
Peterborough, says, “I doubt this kind of major archaeological excavation could
be done anywhere except in a community such as Southampton and Saugeen Shores.
The volunteer support of the general public, as well as area businesses and
agencies is absolutely unbelievable. Without that kind of help we simply
couldn’t do the work on this extremely important shipwreck.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer to work on the excavation can email the Southampton
Beach Shipwreck Project at shipwreck2004@yahoo.com. Southampton is located on
the Lake Huron shore about 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more project information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine
Archaeologist/Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project,
519/797-2944. Email <cassavoy@bmts.com>]
NEWS RELEASE - April 13, 2004 - Southampton, Ontario
Oldest Great Lakes Shipwreck to be Completely Excavated
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says a shipwreck, believed to be the oldest
ever discovered on the Great Lakes, is to be fully excavated on the Southampton
Beach starting on May 17. Cassavoy says the wreck, dated to the late 1700’s,
probably is the merchant schooner “Weazell” built in 1786 at Detroit and lost at
Southampton in 1798.
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered
about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach.
Since then, two short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site
have revealed the presence of substantial remains of this earliest wreck, buried
under the sand. During the 2002 work, excavators found a small-bore swivel
cannon lying in the hold of the wreck, a unique find on a Great Lakes merchant
ship.
On May 17th, the excavation team is to begin opening up the entire interior of
the vessel as well as the full exterior on the starboard side of the schooner.
Cassavoy says the excavation, carried out under his Archaeological License from
the Ontario Ministry of Culture, is to take about eight weeks to complete and
will provide full details on how this historic merchant vessel was constructed.
It also will provide details necessary for the possible lifting, conservation
and museum display of the wreck. At the same time, the work may provide
artifacts which could help confirm the date and identity of the vessel.
The research and excavation of the shipwreck is supported by a number of
businesses and institutions including; The Southampton Marine Heritage
Committee; Trent University-Symons Trust Fund; Town of Saugeen Shores; Westario
Power; Ontario Power Generation; Markle’s Pumping Service; BJS Electric;
Clearwater Well Boring; Electronic Data Systems/EDS; The Canadian Conservation
Institute/CCI; and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee/OMHC.
With no funding available for project crew, all the work will be done by
volunteer excavators working under the direction of volunteer professional
archaeologists. Cassavoy, a Research Associate at Trent University in
Peterborough, says, “I doubt this kind of major archaeological excavation could
be done anywhere except in a community such as Southampton and Saugeen Shores.
The volunteer support of the general public, as well as area businesses and
agencies is absolutely unbelievable. Without that kind of help we simply
couldn’t do the work on this extremely important shipwreck.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer to work on the excavation can email the Southampton
Beach Shipwreck Project at shipwreck2004@yahoo.com. Southampton is located on
the Lake Huron shore about 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more project information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine
Archaeologist/Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project,
519/797-2944. Email <cassavoy@bmts.com>]
Chronological History of Work on the Site
April 2001 - Discovery
The Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project story began in April of 2001 when a
local resident, walking along the Lake Huron beach in Southampton, Ontario,
noticed several wooden timbers, in a distinct line, pushing up through the sand.
It was immediately apparent the timbers were part of a shipwreck, some portion
of which undoubtedly still lay beneath the sand. Because of Southampton's long
history of maritime activities connected to Lake Huron, there was considerable
local interest in discovering what lay under the sand. Local citizens took
action immediately to protect the ship timbers and called for the help of the
Ontario Marine Heritage Committee.
May 2001 - The Excavation Begins
Working under the direction of Marine Archaeologist Ken Cassavoy and the
authority of his provincial archaeological licence, members of the Ontario
Marine Heritage Committee, assisted by countless volunteers from the community,
carried out two short periods of test excavations on the site. This work clearly
established that the wooden frames emerging from the sand were indeed those from
a shipwreck. The wreck was a vessel (Vessel 1) approximately 16.5 metres in
length, with a breadth of about 5.2 metres.
To the surprise of everyone involved in the work, the remains of a second vessel
were found lying under the sand immediately north of, and almost touching, the
first wreck. This vessel (Vessel 2) was approximately 9 metres in length. In
order to protect all the wreck material from deterioration through exposure to
air, the remains of both vessels again were covered with sand following each of
the excavation periods in 2001.
At the end of the 2001 work, we concluded that Vessel 2 is almost certainly a
small barge or work boat, perhaps associated with the construction of the Long
Dock at Southampton between 1873 and 1876. However, Vessel 1 remained something
of a mystery. It was apparently of somewhat greater age than Vessel 2 but no
definitive evidence emerged from the work to indicate what type of vessel it was
or the period when it was built.
October 2002 - The Excavation Continues
The excavation work in 2002 began at the point where the bow of Vessel 1 and the
end of Vessel 2 almost touch, about a metre under the beach sand. The first step
in this excavation was to fully uncover, measure and record the full width of
the end of Vessel 2, the small work barge. This was quickly accomplished.
The rest of the 2002 excavation work centred around the locating of structural
information on Vessel 1. The documentation of this information, directed by
Shipwreck Recorder Stan McClellan, would help identify the type of ship it was
and when it might have been built. To this end, the excavation began at the bow,
then slowly exposed the keelson, the large wooden timber which runs along the
centre of the inside bottom of the ship from the bow to the stern. About three
metres along the keelson, excavators discovered a mast step cut into it. Seven
or eight metres further along the keelson, a second mast step was located buried
under a ballast pile. This second mast step was much larger and built in a
distinctive “saddle” style across the keelson. The evidence provided by the two
mast steps allowed us to conclude the vessel was a sailing ship with a foremast
and a mainmast, and therefore, almost certainly, a schooner.
Before ending the excavation, a large unidentified object, covered with sand and
water and lying against the port side of the keelson, was fully uncovered. Once
excavation of the object began, it was quickly evident that it was an extremely
rare and important find - a small, iron swivel cannon. Such a find on a
shipwreck in the Great Lakes is virtually unheard of outside ships involved in
the War of 1812. The cannon was fully documented and recorded in situ then
lifted off the wreck and immediately placed in a storage tank of water. At this
point, the site once again was back-filled with sand in order to protect it.
The evidence found during the 2002 work has provided the basis for significant
progress in identifying both the type of ship and the period in which it sailed.
The two mast steps clearly identify the ship as a schooner. The “saddle” type
mainmast step provides strong evidence for a mid- to late-18th century
construction date for the vessel.
The ballast pile found on the wreck, also suggests a construction period in the
late 1700's or early 1800's. The presence of a cannon on a Great Lakes ship
indicates a wreck that predates the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817. The cannon type -
a small bore swivel gun, probably a one-pounder - was a common one used
primarily as a signalling device on Great Lakes vessels in the late 1700's and
early 1800's. Thus, all the evidence from the 2002 excavation work points
directly to a ship built and sailed toward the end of the 18th century.
June 2003 - Shipwreck Display
In June of 2003 the schooner cannon, newly-cleaned and conserved at the Canadian
Conservation Institute in Ottawa, returned to form the centrepiece of a small
shipwreck exhibit at the Bruce County Museum and Archives in Southampton. The
cannon, along with a large diorama illustrating the excavation on the beach, a
number of cleaned and conserved fasteners from the wreck and several large
display panels filled with photos and information, all were on exhibit for two
months at the museum. With the complete rebuilding of the museum now under way,
the shipwreck exhibit is temporarily in storage.
May 2004 – Major Excavation Begins
See the opening paragraphs above
Here is some old material that allows the reader to follow some of the history
of the project
Fantastic Discovery
Great Photo of the Shipwreck
Some of the shipwreck volunteer information for 2004
Ken Cassavoy
Marine Archaeologist
Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project
Research Associate, Department of Anthropology - Trent University
NEWS RELEASE - August 06 - Southampton, Ontario
Southampton Shipwreck Probably A Naval Vessel
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says initial results of the major excavation of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck, indicate the wreck appears to have been a naval vessel not a merchant ship. Earlier test excavations and concurrent research suggested the wreck was probably the British merchant schooner the WEAZELL. The latest, nine-week-long complete excavation of the wreck interior ended two weeks ago and provided the project team with artifacts which now indicate the shipwreck probably occurred at a point in time some years after the WEAZELL was lost. The excavation also provided ship construction information which indicates it probably was built to the specifications of a naval contract..
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach. Two short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site in 2001 and 2002 provided enough information for researchers to suggest the remains were those of the WEAZELL lost at Southampton in 1798. Cassavoy says the results of the recent complete excavation indicate the ship is from the right period, the late 1700’s or early 1800’s, but also show it undoubtedly saw service as a naval vessel for a fairly lengthy period of time. Artifacts found on the wreck include more than 30 buttons, most of them British or U.S. military buttons, as well as four larger calibre cannonballs, numerous musket balls, two gunflints, a musket bayonet, and parts of at least two pistols or muskets. A small, one-pounder swivel cannon was found on the wreck during the 2002 test excavation.
Project Director Cassavoy says the core project team of Shipwreck Recorder Stan McClellan, Assistant Field Director Leslie Currie and Marine Historian Patrick Folkes agree the military buttons are key to the revised identification of the ship. At least two of the buttons appear to be from uniforms of British military regiments which were not formed until several years after the WEAZELL was lost.
According to Cassavoy a great deal more study has to be done before the project makes any new suggestion on the identity of the shipwreck. However, historian Folkes believes the wreck may be that of the GENERAL HUNTER, a British naval brig built in 1806 and captured by the Americans in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. In August of 1816, sailing as a U.S. merchant vessel and with the ship name shortened to HUNTER, the brig was recorded as having been wrecked on the eastern shore of Lake Huron one hundred miles north of the entrance to the St. Clair River. While that would put the wreck in about the right location, Cassavoy cautions that until all the hundreds of excavation artifacts are carefully examined and the list of all potential shipwreck candidates - including the HUNTER - are fully researched, the project will not make any official statement concerning the possible identity of the ship.
Cassavoy says, “I’m disappointed the wreck probably is not the WEAZELL but that’s what archaeology is all about, that’s why we undertook the excavation, so we could better understand exactly how the ship was built and to try to find artifacts that would confirm the identity. In this case, of course, the excavation results now appear to be moving us in quite a different direction. Our work has shown we have the remains of a beautiful little vessel buried on the beach and my colleagues McClellan, Currie and Folkes are all very excited by the new findings. They believe a naval vessel of this very early period on Lake Huron is a rare find and probably of greater historic interest than a merchant ship.”
An initial descriptive summary of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck Excavation work, with photos of the various stages of the excavation and of some artifacts, is to be posted on the www.chantryisland.com website by the middle of August. . A 2004 Project Report is to be completed in January of 2005 and copies will be made available for purchase by the public.
Southampton is located 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist/Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project, 519/797-2944. Email cassavoy@bmts.com.]
The Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project
NEWS RELEASE - April 13, 2004 - Southampton, Ontario
Oldest Great Lakes Shipwreck to be Completely Excavated
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says a shipwreck, believed to be the oldest ever discovered on the Great Lakes, is to be fully excavated on the Southampton Beach starting on May 17. Cassavoy says the wreck, dated to the late 1700’s, probably is the merchant schooner “Weazell” built in 1786 at Detroit and lost at Southampton in 1798.
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach. Since then, two short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site have revealed the presence of substantial remains of this earliest wreck, buried under the sand. During the 2002 work, excavators found a small-bore swivel cannon lying in the hold of the wreck, a unique find on a Great Lakes merchant ship.
On May 17th, the excavation team is to begin opening up the entire interior of the vessel as well as the full exterior on the starboard side of the schooner. Cassavoy says the excavation, carried out under his Archaeological License from the Ontario Ministry of Culture, is to take about eight weeks to complete and will provide full details on how this historic merchant vessel was constructed. It also will provide details necessary for the possible lifting, conservation and museum display of the wreck. At the same time, the work may provide artifacts which could help confirm the date and identity of the vessel.
The research and excavation of the shipwreck is supported by a number of businesses and institutions including; The Southampton Marine Heritage Committee; Trent University-Symons Trust Fund; Town of Saugeen Shores; Westario Power; Ontario Power Generation; Markle’s Pumping Service; BJS Electric; Clearwater Well Boring; Electronic Data Systems/EDS; The Canadian Conservation Institute/CCI; and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee/OMHC.
With no funding available for project crew, all the work will be done by volunteer excavators working under the direction of volunteer professional archaeologists. Cassavoy, a Research Associate at Trent University in Peterborough, says, “I doubt this kind of major archaeological excavation could be done anywhere except in a community such as Southampton and Saugeen Shores. The volunteer support of the general public, as well as area businesses and agencies is absolutely unbelievable. Without that kind of help we simply couldn’t do the work on this extremely important shipwreck.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer to work on the excavation can email the Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project at shipwreck2004@yahoo.com. Southampton is located on the Lake Huron shore about 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more project information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist/Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project, 519/797-2944. Email <cassavoy@bmts.com>]
NEWS RELEASE - April 13, 2004 - Southampton, Ontario
Oldest Great Lakes Shipwreck to be Completely Excavated
Marine archaeologist Ken Cassavoy says a shipwreck, believed to be the oldest ever discovered on the Great Lakes, is to be fully excavated on the Southampton Beach starting on May 17. Cassavoy says the wreck, dated to the late 1700’s, probably is the merchant schooner “Weazell” built in 1786 at Detroit and lost at Southampton in 1798.
Low Lake Huron water levels and a spring ice scour in April of 2001 uncovered about a dozen ship frames pushing up through the sand of Southampton Beach. Since then, two short periods of test archaeological excavations on the site have revealed the presence of substantial remains of this earliest wreck, buried under the sand. During the 2002 work, excavators found a small-bore swivel cannon lying in the hold of the wreck, a unique find on a Great Lakes merchant ship.
On May 17th, the excavation team is to begin opening up the entire interior of the vessel as well as the full exterior on the starboard side of the schooner. Cassavoy says the excavation, carried out under his Archaeological License from the Ontario Ministry of Culture, is to take about eight weeks to complete and will provide full details on how this historic merchant vessel was constructed. It also will provide details necessary for the possible lifting, conservation and museum display of the wreck. At the same time, the work may provide artifacts which could help confirm the date and identity of the vessel.
The research and excavation of the shipwreck is supported by a number of businesses and institutions including; The Southampton Marine Heritage Committee; Trent University-Symons Trust Fund; Town of Saugeen Shores; Westario Power; Ontario Power Generation; Markle’s Pumping Service; BJS Electric; Clearwater Well Boring; Electronic Data Systems/EDS; The Canadian Conservation Institute/CCI; and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee/OMHC.
With no funding available for project crew, all the work will be done by volunteer excavators working under the direction of volunteer professional archaeologists. Cassavoy, a Research Associate at Trent University in Peterborough, says, “I doubt this kind of major archaeological excavation could be done anywhere except in a community such as Southampton and Saugeen Shores. The volunteer support of the general public, as well as area businesses and agencies is absolutely unbelievable. Without that kind of help we simply couldn’t do the work on this extremely important shipwreck.”
Anyone wishing to volunteer to work on the excavation can email the Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project at shipwreck2004@yahoo.com. Southampton is located on the Lake Huron shore about 35 kilometres miles west of Owen Sound, Ontario.
[For more project information contact: Ken Cassavoy, Marine Archaeologist/Project Director, Southampton Beach Shipwreck Project, 519/797-2944. Email <cassavoy@bmts.com>]
April 2001 -
Discovery
The Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project story began in April of 2001
when a local resident, walking along the Lake Huron beach in Southampton,
Ontario, noticed several wooden timbers, in a distinct line, pushing up through
the sand. It was immediately
apparent the timbers were part of a shipwreck, some portion of
which undoubtedly still lay beneath the sand.
Because of Southampton's long history of maritime activities connected to
Lake Huron, there was considerable local interest in discovering what lay under
the sand. Local citizens took
action immediately to protect the ship timbers and called for the help of the
Ontario Marine Heritage Committee.
May 2001 - The
Excavation Begins
Working under the direction of Marine Archaeologist Ken Cassavoy and the
authority of his provincial archaeological licence, members of the Ontario
Marine Heritage Committee, assisted by countless volunteers from the community,
carried out two short periods of test excavations on the site.
This work clearly established that the wooden frames emerging from the
sand were indeed those from a shipwreck. The
wreck was a vessel (Vessel 1) approximately 16.5 metres in length, with a
breadth of about 5.2 metres.
To the surprise of everyone involved in the work, the remains of a second
vessel were found lying under the sand immediately north of, and almost
touching, the first wreck. This
vessel (Vessel 2) was approximately 9 metres in length.
In order to protect all the wreck material from deterioration through
exposure to air, the remains of both vessels again were covered with sand
following each of the excavation periods in 2001.
At the end of the 2001 work, we concluded that Vessel 2 is almost
certainly a small barge or work boat, perhaps associated with the construction
of the Long Dock at Southampton between 1873 and 1876.
However, Vessel 1 remained something of a mystery.
It was apparently of somewhat greater age than Vessel 2 but no definitive
evidence emerged from the work to indicate what type of vessel it was or the
period when it was built.
October 2002 - The
Excavation Continues
The excavation work in 2002 began at the point where the bow of Vessel 1
and the end of Vessel 2 almost touch, about a metre under the beach sand.
The first step in this excavation was to fully uncover, measure and
record the full width of the end of Vessel 2, the small work barge.
This was quickly accomplished.
The rest of the 2002 excavation work centred around the locating of
structural information on Vessel 1. The
documentation of this information, directed by Shipwreck Recorder Stan
McClellan, would help identify the type of ship it was and when it might have
been built. To this end, the
excavation began at the bow, then slowly exposed the keelson, the large wooden
timber which runs along the centre of the inside bottom of the
SBS
Project
2
ship from the bow to
the stern. About three metres along
the keelson, excavators discovered a mast step cut into it.
Seven or eight metres further along the keelson, a
second mast step was
located buried under a ballast pile. This
second mast step was much larger and built in a distinctive “saddle” style
across the keelson. The evidence
provided by the two mast steps allowed us to conclude the vessel was a sailing
ship with a foremast and a mainmast, and therefore, almost certainly, a
schooner.
Before ending the excavation, a large unidentified object, covered with
sand and water and lying against the port side of the keelson, was fully
uncovered. Once excavation of the
object began, it was quickly evident that it was an extremely rare and important
find - a small, iron swivel cannon. Such
a find on a shipwreck in the Great Lakes is virtually unheard of outside ships
involved in the War of 1812. The
cannon was fully documented and recorded in situ then lifted off
the wreck and immediately placed in a storage tank of water.
At this point, the site once again was back-filled with sand in order to
protect it.
The evidence found during the 2002 work has provided the basis for
significant progress in identifying both the type of ship and the period in
which it sailed. The two mast steps clearly identify the ship as a schooner.
The “saddle” type mainmast step provides strong evidence for a mid-
to late-18th century construction date for the vessel.
The ballast pile
found on the wreck, also suggests a construction period in the late 1700's or
early 1800's. The presence of a
cannon on a Great Lakes ship indicates a wreck that predates the Rush-Bagot
Treaty of 1817. The cannon type
- a small bore swivel gun, probably a one-pounder -
was a common one used primarily as a signalling device on Great Lakes
vessels in the late 1700's and early 1800's. Thus, all the evidence from the
2002 excavation work points directly to a ship built and sailed toward the end
of the 18th century.
June 2003 - Shipwreck
Display
In June of 2003 the schooner cannon, newly-cleaned and conserved at the
Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, returned to form the centrepiece of a
small shipwreck exhibit at the Bruce County Museum and Archives in Southampton.
The cannon, along with a large diorama illustrating the excavation on the
beach, a number of cleaned and conserved fasteners from the wreck and several
large display panels filled with photos and information, all were on exhibit for
two months at the museum. With the
complete rebuilding of the museum now under way, the shipwreck exhibit is
temporarily in storage.
March 2004
- Historical Research
Continues
For now, the identity of the schooner lying under the Southampton beach
sand is still not certain. However,
historical research, led by Marine Historian Patrick Folkes, suggests it is
probably the “Weazell” a private merchant schooner built in 1786 at Detroit,
for John Askin, a prominent merchant of the time.
Historic references have been found
SBS
Project
3
showing the
“Weazell” carrying furs, muskets, rum, flour, fish, lumber and other goods
between Fort Erie, Detroit, Sault Ste. Marie and Michilimakinac through the late
1700's. According to a John
Askin business letter from 1808, the “Weazell” apparently was “lost” in
the present-day location of Southampton but the letter does not provide the date
of the loss, only indicating it was before 1805.
One other reference does indicates the “Weazell” was “wrecked” in
1798 but does not confirm the location. Thus
the identification of the Southampton Beach Shipwreck as the “Weazell” is
highly probable but cannot yet be considered certain.
May 2004 - Shipwreck
Excavation Resumes
Providing that sufficient funding is obtained, excavation of the
Southampton Beach Shipwrecks Project schooner will resume in mid-May of 2004.
The work will take place over an 8-week period and will involve at least
the full excavation of the starboard interior of the wreck, the starboard
exterior of the wreck and a large section of the site off the starboard side, to
the east of the wreck remains. Following
completion of the land excavation, an underwater survey of an area of about
6,000 square metres of the Lake Huron bottom, immediately west of the site, also
is planned.
Here is some old material that allows the reader to follow some of the history of the project
Great Photo of the Shipwreck
Some of the shipwreck volunteer information for 2004
