‘Wreck and Rescue at Gunwalloe’ Project – Heritage Event 25th & 26th August 2023

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You are welcome to join Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU), for an open event at Gunwalloe Church, south of Helston. This event will involve an exploration of archaeology, from shipwrecks to wreck salvage and rescue. No charge or need to book – please feel free to drop in. The project is funded by Historic England, to help mark 50 years of the legal protection of ‘Designated Wrecks’. See below for a programme (the activities will run for both days of the event):

  • From 10-30 to 12-30 a.m. Tasha Fullbrook (Portable Antiquities Scheme). Joining us in the church, with some finds from the Cornish coast, and activities for children. Opportunity for sharing any sites you may have discovered, and identifying your finds.
  • 2-30 p.m. John Allan and Jo Mattingly (church heritage specialists, Exeter and Cornwall). Looking at screen panels attributed to a wreck of 1527, and ways of exploring church heritage, including by use of a diver’s powerful torch!
  • 10-30 a.m. and again at 3-30 p.m. Imogen Wood (University of Exeter). Visit to the site of the digs, with features now exposed in the eroding cliffs.
  • 11-30 a.m. and again at 1-30 p.m. Cathy Parkes (CAU), joined by divers depending on their availability. Visit to the headland, an early trading centre or ‘cliff castle’; views of wreck locations and the site of an old treasure salvage works.

For further details on the event, please see the attached pdf.

If you would like to help the team host the event, please email Cathy Parkes, Senior Archaeologist (CAU project lead), cathy.parkes@cau.org.uk if you’d like to volunteer for any part of these days, which will run from 10-30 a.m. to 4-30 p.m. For further details about volunteering, please see this pdf.