A remarkable discovery has emerged from the depths of a Scottish river, where a sunken royal ship, believed to be laden with treasure, has been uncovered 400 years after it was lost to the waters.
The ill-fated vessel, named the Blessing of Burntisland, met its end during a tempestuous crossing of the Firth of Forth, sailing from Fife to Leith as King Charles I embarked on his coronation tour in July 1633.
Aboard the ship was a fortune in silver and gold, valued at £100,000 at the time of its sinking, which would be worth approximately £20 million by today’s standards.
Tragically, all but two of the 35 souls who were passengers and crew perished, along with the precious cargo, which disappeared into the murky depths.
For centuries, the Blessing of Burntisland was considered irretrievably lost, believed to be hidden by the deep, silty waters of the Firth of Forth.
But thanks to advances in modern technology, a group of investigators think they have finally found the long-lost wreck alongside its precious payload.
Experts from the Charles Wrex Project, led by Burntisland Heritage, have released a report claiming that the wreck may have been found just one mile outside the town.
The report claims that the project has ‘now located what is believed to be the wreck of the Blessing, and work to retrieve items from the wreck is imminent’.
The Blessing of Burntisland, a royal ship carrying sunken treasure has been found in a Scottish river after sinking 400 years ago. Pictured: A painting of the Blessing of Burntisland capsizing
Researchers used modern ground–penetrating radar to search beneath the silt of the Firth of Forth Estuary, revealing what they believe to be the missing ship
Difficult conditions, poor visibility, and restrictions on diving in the Firth of Forth have made the search for the Blessing of Burntisland an uphill battle.
That was made significantly harder by the fact that the ship was expected to have been buried deep beneath the estuary silt over hundreds of years,
However, that hasn’t put off volunteers from Burntisland Heritage, who have been diligently scouring the tidal estuary for the last 30 years.
Items, such as pottery, shoe leather, and clothes fastenings, have been found in the area, but none have been conclusively identified as belonging to the Blessing.
But, armed with the latest underwater searching tools, their efforts finally promise to show results.
The report, titled the Burntisland Blessing Report, details the ‘application of subsea ground–penetrating radar, together with advanced scanning techniques, physical exploration of the site and the retrieval of a timber’.
Subsea ground-penetrating radar uses ultra-low frequency sound waves to record an image of the layers beneath the bottom of the ocean.
This allowed the investigators to detect the remains of a ship that would have been completely hidden from other search methods.
The suspected wreck was found less than a mile off the coast of Burntisland (pictured) in the Firth of Forth, where it was lost in July 1633
Volunteers and researchers have been searching for the missing ship for the last 30 years, but low visibility and the estuary’s shifting silt have made the search extremely difficult. Pictured: The Archaeological Diving Unit from St Andrews University set out in search of the Blessing in 1999
Although the ship’s identity has not yet been confirmed, the report says that ‘core samples now strongly point to the wreck being that of the Blessing’.
However, further tests will be needed to determine exactly what the investigators have found.
Most importantly, the team plan to test the age of the timber recovered from the wreck using carbon dating, which will allow them to work out when the trees used to build the boat were cut down.
If those dates line up with the construction of the Blessing of Burntisland, it would be very strong evidence for the wreck’s identity.
That would be a huge breakthrough for a centuries-old nautical mystery.
When King Charles I watched the Blessing sink from the deck of his own ship, the Dreadnought, he was so furious that he blamed the entire disaster on witchcraft.
In Lancashire, 19 women accused of witchcraft were arrested and executed on his insistence that they had caused the storm that sank the Blessing of Burntisland.
However, in reality, the ship likely sank because it was so overladen with its enormous haul of treasure.
The ship was transporting a consignment of treasure as part of King Charles I’s (pictured) coronation tour, estimated to cost £100,000 at the time. That is equivalent to roughly £20 million today
That consignment reportedly included a 280-piece gold and silver dinner service commissioned by King Henry VIII himself.
If the ship and its cargo are recovered, the Crown would be the official owner, with Burntisland Heritage standing as ‘salvor in possession’.
That gives Burntisland Heritage the legal right to protect the wreck site from other salvagers and entitles them to a substantial salvage reward from the Crown.
Representatives from Burntisland Heritage and Burntisland Harbour Access Trust have reportedly met with senior officials from Fife Council, Crown Estate Scotland and the Scottish Government to discuss the find.
They have proposed that, if recovered, the ship and its cargo could be put on display at a proposed new museum in Burntisland.