According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the move follows new information 'that the position of the wreck has changed on the seabed and/or the wreck material falls across a wider area than previously thought'.
The protected area now falls within an expanded circle of radius 150m from the position 49 54.364N, 06 19.889W.
The wreck, of a late 16th-century armed vessel, was found in 1976 and designated as a protected site in 1980. Finds, raised before the wreck's designation, included cargo of mediaeval bronze bell fragments and lead ingots.
Conjecture is that the wreck, described as of 'Spanish type', could be that of the Armada ship San Bartholome, lost in 1597. But no firm evidence has emerged to establish the link.
The wreck's designated licensee is Isles of Scilly diver Tim Allsop, who manages the site with archaeological support from English Heritage. |
