Marsden, Lizard Point, Cecilia

Marsden, Lizard Point, Cecilia

HER Number
13820
District
S Tyneside
Site Name
Marsden, Lizard Point, Cecilia
Place
Marsden
Map Sheet
NZ46SW
Class
Maritime Craft
Site Type: Broad
Sailing Vessel <By Rig>
Site Type: Specific
Barque
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Wreckage
Description
ron, 612-ton, 49.6m long, 8.55m beam 5.66m draught, sailing barque, registered in Liverpool. She was owned at the time of loss by P. Nelson & Co. of Liverpool and built by Mackern in 1863 at Preston. She had two decks, two watertight bulkheads and was classed as Lloyd’s 100 A1.
On 3 March 1881, the Cecilia was under the command of Captain T.B. Nelson and carrying a cargo of coal on passage from Newcastle upon Tyne for Valparaiso, when she was driven ashore at Lizard Point and lost with her crew of eighteen, during a force ten south-easterly storm.

The wreck is believed to be that of the iron barque Cecilia and lies orientated in an east to west direction in a general depth of 6m, just south-east of Souter Lighthouse and 200m east of the small shingle beach. She is now totally collapsed, decayed and well broken up, with just her anchor, ribs, keel and iron plates dispersed along a deep, silty gully, covering an area of around 40-50m. A number of artefacts have been recovered in recent years, including three small brass portholes, a brass deck wash-port and four dead-eyes.

Grid reference conversion made 09.02.2011 with http://gps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/etrs89geo_natgrid.asp with Lat/Long referenced as N 545 58 8 W 01 21 22
Easting
441320
Northing
563990
Grid Reference
NZ441320563990
Sources
Young, R. (2000) Comprehensive guide to Shipwrecks of the North East Coast (The): Volume One (1740 – 1917), Tempus, Gloucestershire. p. 151; National Monuments Record (1313361); United Kingdom shipwreck index; Richard and Bridget Larn 1997 Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 3. The east coast of England : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, County Durham, Northumberland Section 6, County Durham