Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, owners of Barnwell Print, have been feted around the world for their discovery of the wreck of HMS Gloucester which sank of the coast of Great Yarmouth in 1682.
The ship was carrying the Duke of York, (the future Kings James II), John Churchill, later Duke of Marlborough and ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill and the Legge family, ancestors to George Washington and whose family coat of arms, with stars and stripes, inspired the US flag.
For these reasons the wreck has been described as the most important since the discovery of the Mary Rose, and among the reasons that the brothers, academics and staff at Barnwell Print have kept silent about the discovery for more than ten years. When news was finally released last week, a media frenzy caught the discoverers in a whirlwind of media attention, leading to interviews with radio, television and newspapers in both this country and abroad.
“We have had calls from New York and Canada,” says Julian Barnwell, between radio and television interviews. Documentaries and longer features about the wreck, its discovery and recovery of artefacts and ultimately perhaps of the vessel itself. will follow. Some are already in production. This is the culmination of a story which began almost 20 years ago.
Both Barnwells are experienced divers, having been introduced to the hobby through diving in the Norfolk Broads as youngsters by their father. They progressed to dives in the North Sea in time away from the print business, whose logo happens to be a stylised sailing ship. Having exhausted known sunken vessels from the two world wars, Lincoln Barnwell picked up book about undiscovered wrecks around the British coast. This described how the Gloucester was lost during the wars with the Dutch in the seventeenth century. “And Lincoln said ‘let’s go and find it’,” says his brother.
That was 2003. The diving season in the North Sea lasts from June to September before the water becomes too murky. The team, which included their father, acquired a survey boat and set about the quest. “We had got the print business into a nice place,” he says. This gave them time to dedicate to the search. It has been entirely self funded, Julian adds.
Four years later a wreck was found. Julian was the regular diver and says he planned to go down on this occasion. But some stitches from minor surgery prevented this and Lincoln borrowed his brother’s wetsuit and dropped to the seabed. “He saw cannons on the sand. This was clearly an important site,” says Barnwell.
However, this might equally have been remains of HMS Kent which went down in the area in 1672. So it wasn’t until the ship’s bell was recovered in 2012 that the identity of the wreck could be confirmed. “We knew then that we had the Gloucester,” says Barnwell.
A series of official bodies became involved: the Receiver of Wreck, Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth, Ministry of Defence, University of East Anglia, the Marine Archeology Trust, Norwich Museum and Lord Dannack, deputy Lieutenant of Norfolk and former head of the Army.
Over this time the printing business installed a Komori Lithrone G37 HUV and cemented its environmental credentials with a biomass boiler, but thoughts were always below the surface of the North Sea. A huge number of artefacts have been raised both relating to the important passengers and to the ordinary sailors on board. No human remains have been found.
Aside from the weaponry, a number of intact bottles of wine have been raised from the seabed. The airlocks and seals are in place, along with indications that some are from Haut Brion, now one of the most distinguished chateaux in Bordeaux, and English wine.
“We have recovered 30 intact bottles,” says Barnwell. “There is still lots to do to analyse the liquid inside the bottles. We have had the wine from that time reengineered and it’s drinkable. At the time wine was only 4% and would have been drunk by the pint.”
Those bottles are destined for an exhibition at Norwich Museum planned for next year. Barnwell Print will almost certainly be producing the catalogues and other collateral. Ultimately the finds will need to be displayed by a national museum, though there are hopes that a dedicated home might be found in Great Yarmouth. Lord Dannatt has created the 1682 Trust as a charity to lead this campaign.
In the course of the dives to recover the finds, the brothers have qualified as professional divers. The work goes on. While it seems unlikely that the remains of the ship can be recovered like the Mary Rose, timbers, rigging and other structural elements are in good condition.
The ship was wrecked when running aground on notorious sand banks, taking just 45 minutes to sink at 5.30 in the morning. The rudder and stern section, including the elaborately decorated stern, have broken away and are thought now to be buried in three metres of sand, waiting to be discovered. The Barnwell brothers will be there when it is.
