Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Unknown: Frenchman's Rocks, Islay, Atlantic

Cannon, Craft (Possible)

Site Name Unknown: Frenchman's Rocks, Islay, Atlantic

Classification Cannon, Craft (Possible)

Alternative Name(s) Rubha Na Faing; Frenchman's Rock; Rhinns Of Islay; North Channel

Canmore ID 102615

Site Number NR15SE 8008

NGR NR 1536 5401

Datum Datum not recorded

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102615

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

Toggle Aerial | View on large map

Administrative Areas

  • Council Argyll And Bute
  • Parish Maritime - Argyll And Bute
  • Former Region Strathclyde
  • Former District Maritime
  • Former County Not Applicable

Archaeology Notes

NR15SE 8008 1536 5401

N55 41.75 W6 31.8333

NLO: Frenchman's Rocks [name: NR 153 539]

Rhinns of Islay [name centred NR 21 57]

Islay [name centred NR 38 60].

See also NR15SE 8017 and NR15SE 8019.

Formerly also entered as NR15SE 8006 at cited locations NR 153 539 [N55 41.6 W6 31.8] and NR c. 153 539 [N55 41.7 W6 31.9].

Frenchman's Rocks: A large group of islands and tidal rocks off the W coast of Islay. The name derives from a French vessel having been lost here.

Name Book 1872.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Surveying Details

-----------------------------

20 January 1976. Iron cannon (possibly nine pounders) were found at 55 41 42N, 006 31 56W. These indicate a fairly small sailing vessel, possibly a brig or a frigate.

Report taken from the 'Islay 175' expedition report by RAF London sub-aqua federation, 12-21 September 1975.

The site was designated a protected wreck site.

Source; Statutory Instrument no 720/76.

17 July 1984. The protection order was revoked. There is no wreckage remaining that is considered to require protection.

Source; Statutory Instrument no 802/84.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Unknown: reputed to be an Armada galleon. [No classification, date of loss, or further information].

(Location cited as N55 41.75 W6 31.83).

I G Whittaker 1998.

The site, discovered in 1975, probably consists of more than one wreck dating to different periods. Survey and limited excavation have taken place and objects observed and raised include a range of ship borne equipment, ordnance and shot.

Licences held under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973; 1976 survey, 1977 excavation, 1978 survey.

Source: Archaeological Diving Unit 1996.

(Location cited as NR 1536 5401 and name as Rhinns of Islay. Designation was withdrawn in 1984 but formerly covered an area of 100m radius around N55 41.75 W6 31.83).

Frenchman's Rocks were investigated in 1975-8 by RAF London SAC under difficult conditions, the site being very exposed and the seabed deposits highly mobile. Selective excavation was carried out in 1977, pneumatic equipment being used experimentally. No specific identity or date has been suggested for this wreck, and it is probable that the finds represent more than one loss.

No structural elements were apparently identified but artefacts recovered included several guns (some of them on swivels) and numerous cannonballs, these apparently found in rocky gullies at a depth of about 12m. The guns were heavily concreted and the shot had been reduced by erosion to no more than flat discs. Other artefacts recovered included glass and small pieces of gold and silver. In 1978, a two-reale coin of 1788, brass buttons of the early 19th century, and a mortar of 18th century pattern were also found.

Frenchman's Rocks form a small group of stacks 0.3nm off Rubha na Faing, the SW point of the Rhinns of Islay. The rocky seabed rises steeply to the surface from a depth of about 23m, and there are strong tidal streams (with overfalls) offshore. The area is open to the open Atlantic.

(No list of finds is cited: some are held by the Islay Museum Trust).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 3 October 2002.

V Fenwick and A Gale 1999.

HO chart no. 2168 (1989).

Activities

Evidence Of Loss (1872)

Frenchman's Rocks: A large group of islands and tidal rocks off the W coast of Islay. The name derives from a French vessel having been lost here.

Name Book 1872.

Evidence Of Loss (1995)

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Surveying Details

-----------------------------

20 January 1976. Iron cannon (possibly nine pounders) were found at 55 41 42N, 006 31 56W. These indicate a fairly small sailing vessel, possibly a brig or a frigate.

Report taken from the 'Islay 175' expedition report by RAF London sub-aqua federation, 12-21 September 1975.

The site was designated a protected wreck site.

Source: Statutory Instrument no 720/76.

17 July 1984. The protection order was revoked. There is no wreckage remaining that is considered to require protection.

Source: Statutory Instrument no 802/84.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Evidence Of Loss (1996)

The site, discovered in 1975, probably consists of more than one wreck dating to different periods. Survey and limited excavation have taken place and objects observed and raised include a range of ship borne equipment, ordnance and shot.

Licences held under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973; 1976 survey, 1977 excavation, 1978 survey.

Source: Archaeological Diving Unit 1996.

Evidence Of Loss (1998)

Unknown: reputed to be an Armada galleon. [No classification, date of loss, or further information].

(Location cited as N55 41.75 W6 31.83).

I G Whittaker 1998.

Note (3 October 2002)

(Location cited as NR 1536 5401 and name as Rhinns of Islay. Designation was withdrawn in 1984 but formerly covered an area of 100m radius around N55 41.75 W6 31.83).

Frenchman's Rocks were investigated in 1975-8 by RAF London SAC under difficult conditions, the site being very exposed and the seabed deposits highly mobile. Selective excavation was carried out in 1977, pneumatic equipment being used experimentally. No specific identity or date has been suggested for this wreck, and it is probable that the finds represent more than one loss.

No structural elements were apparently identified but artefacts recovered included several guns (some of them on swivels) and numerous cannonballs, these apparently found in rocky gullies at a depth of about 12m. The guns were heavily concreted and the shot had been reduced by erosion to no more than flat discs. Other artefacts recovered included glass and small pieces of gold and silver. In 1978, a two-reale coin of 1788, brass buttons of the early 19th century, and a mortar of 18th century pattern were also found.

Frenchman's Rocks form a small group of stacks 0.3nm off Rubha na Faing, the SW point of the Rhinns of Islay. The rocky seabed rises steeply to the surface from a depth of about 23m, and there are strong tidal streams (with overfalls) offshore. The area is open to the open Atlantic.

(No list of finds is cited: some are held by the Islay Museum Trust).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 3 October 2002.

V Fenwick and A Gale 1999.

HO chart no. 2168 (1989).

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions