Hulks are ships that have been stripped of their fittings and permanently moored within intertidal areas, estuaries, canals and rivers.
The project involves the identification, quantification and plotting of all known hulk assemblages within English waters above the line of low water during low spring tides, and will include a GIS project and National Monuments Record compatible database. To date there has been no thematic country-wide audit of known hulk assemblages (i.e. two or more hulks in close proximity to each other). It is now recognised that this is necessary in order to quantify the resource.
The project will enable geographic, thematic and temporal gaps in known hulk assemblages to be identified in order to identify priorities for future survey work and inform proposals for future management and asset designation frameworks. The project will contribute towards the facilitation of an integrated approach to marine and riverine resources management in partnership with other agencies and interests (e.g. in line with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and current European Maritime Policy).
MOLA will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to the project, drawing on internal expertise in vessels and foreshore archaeology along with close links with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) and Thames Discovery Programme (TDP), which have been at the forefront of developing methods of recording and monitoring archaeological remains on the foreshore.
For more information on the project please contact Louise Davies on 020 7410 2288, or email her at ldavies@museumoflondon.org.uk.
