Web: www.wrecksite.eu
Don't get wrecked
Cornwall has been the graveyard of shipping over the centuries, it is a prime area for shipwrecks as it is close to major shipping routes. In the past the high rate of shipping; in conjunction with precarious currents, stormy weather, concealed rocky outcrops and particularly inadequate navigational aids, were the major causes of shipwrecks. It was considered a Cornishman's right to salvage any of the goods that were left on abandoned ships or that were washed ashore, which led to a considerable amount of smuggling.
Shipwrecks in Cornwall have hit the headlines over many years. There was the ill fated 'Torrey Canyon' whose load of oil decimated local marine life in 1967 after running aground on the Seven Stones Reef, whilst on a lighter note, there was the recovery in 1968 of bullion from the wreck of the Association on The Isles of Scilly. Shipwrecks have not been eliminated by technology, but just reduced. There will always be a chance of wrecks with the amount of shipping around Cornwall, particularly as ships often come close into shore.
Stories abound of Cornish wreckers luring shipping onto rocks with false navigational lighting, with the survivors on reaching the shore being set upon and killed.
Such stories are erroneous and not supported by historical records. There has never been a conviction for such a crime. Whilst on the other hand there are many recorded stories of bravery by local people rescuing victims of shipwrecks.
Bishop Rock
A rock ledge 150 feet long by 50 feet wide, four miles west of the Isles of Scilly. The rocks rise sheer from a depth of 150 feet and are exposed to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean making this one of the most hazardous and difficult sites for the building of a lighthouse.
The Brisons Rocks
Known as 'General de Gaulle in his bath', just off Cape Cornwall have caused many shipwrecks in their time. They are said to have once been home to a prison, but now are an important breeding ground for seabirds.
The Carracks
A group of small rocky inshore islands off the Atlantic north coast of West Cornwall. The islands are located between Zennor and St. Ives and are approximately 200 metres (660 ft) off shore. Boats from St. Ives often travel to and from Seal Island to give visitors the chance to observe the seals and other wildlife on the island.
The Doom Bar
A sandbar at the mouth of the estuary of the River Camel, where it meets the Sea on the north coast of Cornwall near Padstow. A Cornish folklore legend relates that a mermaid created the bar as a dying curse on the harbour after she was shot by a local man. The Doom Bar has accounted for more than six hundred shipwrecks since records began early in the nineteenth century.
The Eddystone
The most famous lighthouse in the British Isles is probably the Eddystone, built on a small and very dangerous rock thirteen miles south-west of Plymouth and eight miles south of Rame Head.
The Gwineasa
A set of approximately fifteen rocks, off the coast of the fishing village of Gorran Haven, remarkable for its seals, dolphins, gannets, and cormorants.
The Manacles
Are a set of treacherous rocks off east side of The Lizard Peninsula near Porthoustock. There have been over a thousand lives lost from more than one hundred ships that have been wrecked on The Manacles.
The Runnel Stone
Just south of Gwennap Head. Between 1880 and 1923 over thirty identified steamships were wrecked, stranded or sank around .
The Seven Stones Reef
Is nearly fifteen miles to the west-north-west of Land's End, has a lightship moored there and seven miles east-north-east of the Isles of Scilly. The reef has been a navigational hazard to shipping for centuries with 71 named wrecks and an estimated 200 shipwrecks overall, the most infamous being the oil tanker the Torrey Canyon on 18th March 1967.
Wolf Rock
Owing its name to the unique howl heard when the wind filled the fissures of the rock, which is nine miles south-west of Land's End, or possibly too, because of the assumed shape of the rock to a wolf's head. The lighthouse was completed on 19th July 1869 and the light was brought into service on the 1st January 1870.
Cornish Lighthouses Shipwrecks Around The Isles of Scilly Smuggling in Cornwall
Cornwall's Beaches Cornish Lifeboat Stations Seven Stones Lightship
The Coastal Footpath The National Coastwatch Institution