Pistil Meadow close to the shore to the left of the picture could be the site of a 'mass burial pit' [Image copyright National Trust Image]
Posted on 09/13/2015 1:11:58 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
A possible mass grave of more than 200 sailors has been discovered at a Cornish beauty spot.
The National Trust will excavate the site near Lizard Point after geophysical surveys revealed a "mass burial pit".
HMS Royal Anne crashed on to rocks and sank off Lizard Point in 1721 with the loss of 207 sailors.
A three-year study has found it appears the washed-up bodies were buried on land at Pistil Meadow.
'Skeletal material'
National Trust archaeologist Jim Parry said the geophysical survey results "seem to be showing a very large mass burial pit".
He said the excavation, to be carried out in the summer of 2016, could show "the preservation of skeletal material".
The valley at Pistil Meadow is one of the few places where the shore can be accessed.
Until 1808 shipwreck victims did not have to be buried on consecrated ground.
The Royal Anne, a military transport galley launched in 1709, was sailing to Barbados when it was caught in a ferocious storm.
The wreck of the ship was found near Lizard Point by divers in the 1970s.
The National Trust has worked with archaeologists from Bournemouth University, the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society to survey Pistil meadow.
The findings of the excavation may allow the site to be afforded legal protection as a grave in future.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Pistil Meadow close to the shore to the left of the picture could be the site of a 'mass burial pit' [Image copyright National Trust Image]
Cornwall is beautiful and has some of the best beer in England, Hick’s Special Draught...at least they did back in ‘77.
Thanks. That’s about 20 miles from a friend’ sister’s house in Cornwall.
Ping.
Cornwall has also endured many shipwrecks. And many a plunderer has headed for their beaches!
Thanks Darks.
Let’s hope they are given more respect than the bodies uncovered at other digs.
Your very own cardboard box and piece of shelf space....nice.
I attended the Padstow festival...what a hoot. They have the official festival and then one for locals only a week earlier...or at least they did back in the ‘70’s.
Oh, sorry, I’m not familiar with that. The closest I got to Cornwall was a little town called Exeter. That was 1972! and England was still England - so prim, so homogenous, so old world and old school.
As I recall, the Padstow (fertility) festival was the oldest continuously running festival in the world or some such thing. Great fun, whatever it was.
It was also Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, so maybe extra fun.
I spent the year all over Europe including a few months in GB. I stayed out of the big cities although in my short time in London I discovered a sizable population of “Turks” (the name apparently used for any muslim encountered) They, the Brits, were sowing the seeds of their own destruction even in ‘77.
Maybe they’ll find a rousing ghost shindig going on.
That would be typical of sailors.
“Hey, we got beach front views and these chaps are spoiling it! I know, party!”
In the 18th Century, victims of shipwrecks were usually stripped of clothing and valuables and left to rot, sometimes while still alive. If these sailors were buried, there must have been some soldiers stationed nearby. Officers, when they could be recognized, frequently escaped this fate, as their families would pay to recover their remains.
I am listening to CS Lewis, the War Years. Makes me yearn for a time when people were so much on the same page with their values.
The pesky problem of longitude maybe?
And look at the photo in the article, lower left quad just off the ramp that descends to the water. Is that a sunken structure? Possibly a stone warf foundation?
Probably nighttime, helluva storm, they just wanted to make landfall. Whoopsie.
I have a weird true story along those lines.
I’ll save it for the UT later.
I was there doing security and it kind of ‘ kicked off’ one night.
Yes, but Cornwall is basically known for the Cornish pasty, a staple of virtually every British restaurant menu. And having visited Cornwall a few years ago, I can attest to the fact that they are delicious.
And little chickens. :-p
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![Pistil Meadow close to the shore to the left of the picture could be the site of a 'mass burial pit' [Image copyright National Trust Image]](http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/84F7/production/_85493043_pistilmeadownt.jpg)
