Roman Wreck Profiled on BBC2

Friday 13 August 2010

Next Thursday’s (19th August 2010) Timewatch programme on BBC2 will feature the largest Roman object ever found in Great Britain - a flat-bottomed ocean going ship discovered by local diver Richard keen in the 1980s.

Local TV production company Spike Productions filmed the segment for the BBC in May this year. The crew of Liam Le Guillou and Tom Killick conducted interviews at Castle Cornet with the key people behind the story. The artifacts already on public display were discussed alongside other finds behind the scenes at Guernsey Heritage.
The Spike team has been working with BBC Television on the historical programme Timewatch. The episode on the 19th of August 2010 (9pm BBC2) focuses on Roman History and features the Wreck of a Roman flat-bottomed ship found off Guernsey in the early 1980s.

Several Roman-period wreck sites have been located around Guernsey but local diver, Richard Keen, discovered the best known example in 1982.

Normally this type of flat bottomed boat is only found in rivers and estuaries. However, this wreck is one of only two examples which provide evidence of ocean going trade routes to places as far away as Spain and Algeria.
The wreck was located between the pier heads of St Peter Port harbour and suffering badly from the scouring action caused by the overhead passage of modern harbour traffic.

The Guernsey Maritime Trust was formed to rescue the wreck from destruction and excavation work began in 1984, under the direction of Dr. Margaret Rule from the Mary Rose Trust. Previously she described the find as, “The most exciting moment of my life”.

The timbers were raised in 1985 and have been undergoing restoration at the Mary Rose Trust HQ in Portsmouth. Together they form part of the aft bottom of a Roman cargo ship which would have been 22 meters long.

Discussions are ongoing about returning the restored vessel to Guernsey Museum.

Spike’s MD and Cameraman Liam Le Guillou said, “It is always a great privilege to work on national programmes about the Channel Islands which the team here at spike are so proud of. This project was a great chance to get up close to some of the Islands most important artifacts. Being selected to work with the BBC Timewatch team is a testament to Spike’s pedigree as programme makers”

The programme can be seen on BBC2 on 19th of August at 21:00.