More cannon found on Alderney Elizabethan wreck

Three cannon have already been raised from the site along with 1,000 artefacts

More cannon have been found on an Elizabethan wreck that sank off Alderney in the 16th Century.

The Alderney Maritime Trust and staff from Bournemouth University dived the site in October, the first time work had been carried out since 2008.

During the dive three cannon and "substantial ship timbers" were found and photographed.

Mike Harrison, coordinator trustee, said more work on the site was going to go ahead next summer.

He said: "Things move very slowly with marine archaeology, the work we've done in the last few years... has been conserving objects."

The unnamed ship sunk in November 1592 and was discovered by local fishermen Bertie Costeril and Fred Shaw in 1977.

The trust was established in 1994 and in 2004 the Duke of York became the group's patron.

Replicas were used to test a theory England's 16th Century naval technology was ahead of its time

Three cannon were among about 1,000 artefacts raised from the site in 2008 and replicas of the cannon were fired as part of tests about the technology of the time.

Two of those cannon have returned to Alderney after conservation work and the third is due to come to the island in the spring.

Other finds from the ship include what could be a Viking navigational aid called a sunstone.

The dive in October started clearing debris left by previous dives and carried out preparation work for a further geophysical survey to be carried out by Bournemouth University in the summer.

Mr Harrison said this survey was dependent on securing the necessary funding.

He said: "It's very, very expensive... we've got a lot of fundraising to do, it's tens of thousands of pounds, conserving a cannon is £10,000 for example."