The Blackfriars shipwrecks were a series of wrecks discovered by archaeologist Peter Marsden in the Blackfriars

Blackfriars

Blackfriars is an area of central London, which lies in the south-west corner of the City of London.The name Blackfriars was first used in 1317 and derives from the black cappa worn by the Dominican Friars who moved their priory from Holborn to the area between the River Thames and Ludgate Hill in...

 area of the banks of the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in London, England. The wrecks were discovered while building a riverside embankment wall along the River Thames. Marsden discovered the first on 6 September 1962 and the next two were discovered in 1970. A later discovery added to the previous three wrecks, constituting now what is known as the four Blackfriars wrecks.

Blackfriars I

Discovered by Peter Marsden on 6 September 1962, the first Blackfriars ship became the earliest known indigenous seagoing sailing ship to be found in northern Europe, dating back to the 2nd century AD. The wreck is dated to a period of great Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 expansion and construction. Found between Blackfriars Bridge

Blackfriars Bridge

Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...

 and Blackfriars Railway Bridge

Blackfriars Railway Bridge

Blackfriars Railway Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.There have been two structures with the name. The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was designed by Joseph Cubitt for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway...

 during the construction of a new riverside wall, the Blackfriars I generated controversy since it appeared to match a native Brythonic

Britons (historical)

The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

 shipbuilding style instead of a traditional Roman style.

The Blackfriars I was built frame-first, meaning that the frame of the ship was built before building the rest of the ship. This method was much faster and saved wood, and was advanced for the period. Marsden described the ship as having a carvel

Carvel (boat building)

In boat building, carvel built or carvel planking is a method of constructing wooden boats and tall ships by fixing planks to a frame so that the planks butt up against each other, edge to edge, gaining support from the frame and forming a smooth hull...

-built hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 caulked with hazel twigs, mast-step and thick floors secured with nails. On the ship, a bronze votive coin of the Emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

 was found in the mast of the ship. In addition, it was discovered that the ship was wrecked while carrying cargo that consisted of 26 LT of Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

ish ragstone

Rag-stone

Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones which are quarried in thin pieces, such as the Horsham sandstone, Yorkshire stone, the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. By rag-stone, near London, is meant an excellent material from the...

, a type of building stone. With further findings about the area of operation of the ship, Marsden suggested Blackfriars I was used for constructions purposes. The rest of the cargo included: two pottery sherds, a wooden mallet, and a piece of leather. Marsden was able to conclude, using the location and position of the wreck that it crashed into another vessel, a collision which was responsible for the ship sinking.

Blackfriars II

The Blackfriars II was discovered in June 1969 east of Blackfriars Bridge. The ship was carrying a cargo of brick when it was wrecked. Marsden and R. Inman excavated the wreck. Their findings showed that the cargo included new red bricks, pipes and pottery that dated back to 1660–80. With this information, Marsden was able to conclude that the ship was carrying materials meant for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666. The techniques used to build this ship led Marsden to believe that the state of contemporary knowledge of shipbuilding was insufficient for dating small boats.

Blackfriars III and IV

The Blackfriars III and IV were discovered in 1970 in the riverfront extremely close to the sites of the previous two discoveries. The ships date back to 15th century. The wreck is believed to be the result of a deadly collision between the two vessels. The Blackfriars IV is believed to have collided with the Blackfriars III and sunk it. The wreck contained no cargo, but archaeologists, while excavating around the site, found two pewter badges, the bronze arm of a pair of shears, two larger lead weights, and an iron grapnel. As with the other Blackfriars ships, these two appear to have been used to carry and transport building supplies.

The Blackfriars III ship is the most complete medieval sailing ship to be discovered in Britain. It was a sailing ship built around 1400 and was approximately 48 feet (14.6 m) long, 14 feet (4.3 m) wide and 2 in 11 in (0.889 m) high. Marsden believed the ship to resemble a river vessel known as a “shout”.

The Blackfriars IV was a clinker-built

Clinker (boat building)

Clinker building is a method of constructing hulls of boats and ships by fixing wooden planks and, in the early nineteenth century, iron plates to each other so that the planks overlap along their edges. The overlapping joint is called a land. In any but a very small boat, the individual planks...

vessel, built around the 15th century. The vessel was estimated to be very small, only 10 feet (3 m) wide. It was possible that it was a local river craft that was used to unload larger vessels.