Cornish beauty spot 'possible mass grave' site

Pistil Meadow close to the shore to the left of the picture could be the site of a 'mass burial pit'

A possible mass grave of more than 200 sailors has been discovered at a Cornish beauty spot.

The National Trust will excavate the site near Lizard Point after geophysical surveys revealed a "mass burial pit".

HMS Royal Anne crashed on to rocks and sank off Lizard Point in 1721 with the loss of 207 sailors.

A three-year study has found it appears the washed-up bodies were buried on land at Pistil Meadow.

'Skeletal material'

National Trust archaeologist Jim Parry said the geophysical survey results "seem to be showing a very large mass burial pit".

He said the excavation, to be carried out in the summer of 2016, could show "the preservation of skeletal material".

The valley at Pistil Meadow is one of the few places where the shore can be accessed.

Until 1808 shipwreck victims did not have to be buried on consecrated ground.

The Royal Anne, a military transport galley launched in 1709, was sailing to Barbados when it was caught in a ferocious storm.

The wreck of the ship was found near Lizard Point by divers in the 1970s.

The National Trust has worked with archaeologists from Bournemouth University, the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society to survey Pistil meadow.

The findings of the excavation may allow the site to be afforded legal protection as a grave in future.