Maritime record MWE150479 - Sursaigh

In early 2004, Mr Neil Leveson, a local scallop diver and hotel owner discovered a wreck site off the NE coast of the small islet of Sursay [Sursaigh]; he reported the discovery to Historic Scotland and to the Receiver of Wreck. The following report was compiled by Philip Robertson (NAS Scotland) in advance of further work, supported by Historic Scotland.

The site lies some 20m off the NE corner of Sursay, one of complicated groups of skerries and islets in the Sound of Harris. The area is partially exposed to the W and NE, but the island would provide shelter from the prevailing S and SW winds. The location is subject to considerable current flow, although the level of seabed sedimentation suggests no worse than a medium energy environment.

The remains so far identified comprise a fairly tight grouping of ship-related remains across a sloping seabed at depths of between 8 and 14m. The upper end of the site lies within the kelp zone, where six guns (some fully exposed and others largely buried) are interspersed beneath boulders and areas of dense kelp. At greater depths, an apparently-articulated portion of hull frames and ceiling planking may be identified, this being only partially exposed within a matrix of sand, mud and gravel across an area measuring at least 15m across. Associated finds were identified along the entire length of a 32m baseline. A mass of corrosion products overlies the hull planking, and may have helped to pin the surviving hull structure to the seabed. Large numbers of iron bars may be discerned within the concreted mass, while further concretions have apparently settled down the slope.

The guns are all of cast iron and highly corroded; remains associated with at least one gun carriage may survive. Further recording is required, although the thickness of concretion may preclude firm conclusions regarding provenance and dating. Further finds include several lead pipes (possibly hawse and/or navel pipes or scuppers), large quantities of sheet lead (bearing nail marks), concreted ship's fittings (possibly relating to the rigging), and two large bales of a bituminous substance. The shape of these bales suggests that they were stored in wooden casks, which have long since disintegrated; a sample has been recovered for analysis. Four sherds of pottery have been recovered from the same context (close to the hull and iron concretion); two of these have been attributed by the staff of NMS to the late 18th century (a creamware rim fragment) and around the early 19th century (a base fragment of coarse redware).

The remains certainly indicate a shipwreck site, rather than anchorage debris. The remains are consistent with the loss of a vessel (possibly an armed merchantman) in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, a period when these waters apparently saw regular use. Whittaker (1998) cites at least ten vessels lost during this period, but no specific identification can be suggested. The seabed sediments appear fairly stable, but there is a risk of 'souvenir' hunting. The wreck has been adopted under the NAS Adopt-a-Wreck scheme, and further investigation (by NAS Scotland) is planned for summer 2006.

Philip Robertson ( Nautical Archaeological Society - Scotland)(c.2006)