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The programmes
Poor anchorage, strong currents and exposure to south-westerly gales make Chesil Beach one of the most dangerous areas for ships on the south coast of England. In 1748, the Dutch vessel Hope ran aground here with a cargo of gold and silver. Shipwreck hunters searched for the ship and its treasure without success for 250 years. Then, in the late 1990s, local diver Dave Spiller spotted what looked to be the site of an old wooden wreck in the area where the Hope sank. The Wreck Detectives travelled down to find out if this was indeed the wreck site of a local legend.
The history
The Hope is probably the wealthiest ship to have foundered off Chesil Beach, with a £50,000 cargo of gold and silver that would be worth about £4 million in today's money. This Dutch ship had been away from its Amsterdam port for many months, trading as afield as the Caribbean and China. She had almost completed the long journey back home when a storm hit her in the English Channel; she went down off Chesil Beach.
News soon spread that the unlucky vessel was carrying gold and silver and thousands of treasure hunters rummaged through the pebbles to collect any spilled riches. As the plunder continued, the crew struggled to drag their lifeboat onto the beach and could only look on as their cargo disappeared.
Looting continued for more than a week after the sinking. Some of the gold was recovered, however, and one team of treasure hunters was charged and brought before the courts. Nevertheless, with 2000 looters involved in the plunder, it was difficult for the courts to secure a conviction against such a small band and as a result they were found not guilty.
As the centuries passed, the legend of the Hope and its treasure lived on. Many shipwreck hunters scoured the area in which she foundered in the hope of claiming the coins. Despite desperate attempts to find evidence of her, no-one had any luck until commercial diver Dave Spiller found broken timber, crockery and an old anchor chain in the area where she sank.
Knowing that the Hope sank in this area, Dave was excited and keen to head back to the site. He enlisted the help of friend and fellow diver Mark Howse to find any clues to the identity of the wreck remains. If this was the site of the Hope, then a hefty salvage reward could make them among the richest amateur wreck hunters around.
The dive
Dave and Mark guided the Wreck Detectives dive boat to the site, near the Fleet Lighthouse. The sun was out and the surface was calm enough to give our team maximum time to scour the seabed and look for wreckage.
Miranda and the other divers had a large area to cover to find clues to the identity of the wreckage they'd found lying among the boulders and shingle which blankets the site. It was slow work and much more of a challenge than they had first imagined. To help them, a remotely operated 'side-scan sonar' unit (a rocket-shaped device about a metre long) was brought in which beamed back 3D pictures of the wreck site to the boat above. Our Wreck Detectives were looking for anything on the computer screen that looked like hidden bits of wreck.
An airlift (essentially an underwater vacuum cleaner) was brought in to remove some of the shingle from the seabed and reveal more pieces of wreck. It was the biggest underwater vacuum our divers had ever worked with or even seen. An airlift is a useful underwater tool as it gently clears any sand or silt without damaging the site.
Extracting materials from the ocean without damaging them is a tricky and lengthy process, so the underwater investigators had to hold up quite a few objects to the camera for Jeremy and his on-surface experts to examine. Everyone above and below the surface waited with excitement and anticipation to find out whether the bits of the wreck they'd found were indeed from the lost Hope. Miranda even donned some 80s-style earphones and dived down with a metal detector in hand, listening for the high-pitched sound that might indicate buried silver or gold.
Sadly, initial dating of the cargo showed that the pieces of wreckage found, including broken crockery, pottery and timber slats, probably belonged to a 19th century vessel, built about 100 years after the Hope sank. A piece of ironwork was recovered from the site, measuring a few feet across, which may have been part of a ship's rigging system. However, its shape and size was also very typical of the 19th century, according to the experts on the surface.
It is possible that there are two different wrecks sitting on the seabed in this area, as many bits of wreckage weren't identified. But as the dive week came to an end, nothing of 18th-century origin had been found.
Chesil Beach is one of the most popular shore-diving spots in the UK, but there is very little to see around this particular underwater site because shingle has covered most of the scattered wreckage. However, for those that enjoy rummaging around with a chance of finding bits of history, it can be an extremely rewarding dive.
Find out more about the wreck of the Hope.
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Location
Latitude 50° 36' 50'' N
Longitude 02° 32' 00'' W
Chesil Beach, Dorset
Dive planning
The site can be dived in most conditions where the swell is less than 2 feet. Currents can pick up here, so it's best to dive on or close to slack water. The maximum depth to be reached around this area is 18 metres, so there's plenty of dive time to explore. The shelved beach can be very steep at the water's edge and care should be taken in choppy seas as it gets extremely difficult to back up on to land when fully kitted. The best place to park for shore-diving on Chesil Beach is the large pay and display NCP car park, where there are also public toilet facilities. For slipway information, contact the Portland Port harbour master. There are a number of dive centres in the area to buy air fills. Remember the removal of pebbles from Chesil Beach is illegal.
Useful contacts
Portland Port harbour master:
01305 824044
E-mail: marine@portland-port.co.uk
Portland Coastguard:
01305 760439
Dive Dorset
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