Programme 3
Newport's Medieval Ship - The Fate of the Ship
IntroductionThe design of the ship
Artefacts found on the ship
The Fate of the Ship
Future Plans
- Pottery found on board
This and similar vessels would have carried goods around Europe. British goods such as wool and cloth would be exported out of the Severn ports, perhaps along with barrels of salted fish, and the ships would return from European ports with wine, spices and other exotic goods. Newport, which was under rule of the local Marcher Lords rather than the king, was often used to avoid customs duties by ships bound for Bristol during the 15th and 16th Centuries.
It is believed that the ship was laid up in a creek close to Newport Castle for repairs 1467-70. There was a major crack in the mast step, which has led some to suggest that the ship had been severely damaged in a storm, and had limped to safety at Newport to be patched up.
Using tree-ring dating techniques, it has been possible to date the wooden frame that the ship was resting on to 1467-68; the oak that was used in an unsuccessful attempt to repair the mast was felled in late 1465 or early 1466. It seems likely that the ship was then abandoned, perhaps as a result of events during the Wars of the Roses which was raging across Wales and England at the time.
9:00PM Tuesday
Repeated on S4C Digidol 9:00PM Saturday
with English Subtitles