WA C&M has been heavily involved in projects supported by the Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) since it was introduced in 2002.
WA’s own ALSF project pages can be found using the navigation on the right.
Details of many of WA’s ALSF projects can also be found in the ALSF digital archive, maintained by the Archaeology Data Service on behalf of English Heritage.
Latest ALSF project news:
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The remains of an unidentified wreck broken in two parts and lying on the port side.
The dimensions of the wreck and surrounding debris scatter measures 76m x 16m. The shipwreck is lying in 27m of water and is located to the SW of Littlehampton, West Sussex.
In August 2002 the site was surveyed with sidescan [...] - Commonly known as the “Bottle Wreck”, this site mainly consists of a mound of cargo, since the vessel itself is badly deteriorated. Secondary sources have characterised this wreck as a small sailing coaster or barge with at least two masts. It carried a cargo of cast-iron pipes, beer (in barrels and bottles), [...] - This is the wreck of an unknown steam trawler, probably dating to the first quarter of the 20th century. The vessel is lying on the starboard side and although most of its structure is absent, part of a funnel is visible on the seabed, together with an iron propeller and winch.
The site is [...] - Documentary research and geophysical data have identified this wreck as the Belgian steamer Concha, built in 1877. The vessel sank after colliding with the steamer Saint Filians. The Concha’s valuable cargo of tin and copper ore was salvaged shortly after its sinking, but the iron ore cargo still remains in and around the [...] -
This site is thought to be the remains of a World War II B-24 Liberator bomber.
It is located close to the Sussex coast, near Eastbourne.
In August 2002, Wessex Archaeology surveyed the site using sidescan sonar, although the results produced were not consistent with the wreck of a plane.
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This wreck is the remains of the Umba, an early 20th century merchant vessel that was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918. The wreck is also commonly known as the “Gun Wreck” after a Russian 6 pounder gun was found mounted on the poop.
The site is located 5.5nm south of Hastings, just to [...] -
In August 2002, Wessex Archaeology carried out a sidescan sonar and magnetometer survey of this unnamed site, south of Hastings, East Sussex. The site was located using data obtained from the UKHO. There was no dive survey due to adverse weather conditions.
The wreck has a significant magnetic signature, suggesting it is constructed from a ferrous [...] -
This is the wreck of the Devon Coast, an early 20th century three-masted steamer that sank in 1908 after a collision with another steamer, Jeanie. Locally the site is known as the “Stone Boat” due to the cargo of cement it was transporting. However it has now been identified as the Devon Coast after a [...] - This unidentified vessel is known as the “Portland Stone Wreck” and is most likely the remains of a sailing barge or barge-like vessel that sank in the second half of the 19th century. Little of the vessel is visible above the seabed, however the lower sections of the hull are likely to be preserved under [...] - This site contains the remains of an unidentified and very broken up vessel, lying in two sections. The identification of the boiler and the construction method of the riveted plate implies that the wreck was built pre-World War II, and probably sank either during the war or shortly after.
The wreck is situated [...] - This site is the wreck of a World War II bomber, identified by its engines as a B-17 Flying Fortress.
It lies in 16m of water, 2.4nm SSW of Newhaven, East Sussex.
As an aircraft lost in military service, the site is protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Reports from a dive investigation [...] - A combination of documentary research and geophysical data have identified this shipwreck as that of the mid 19th century Swedish steamer Talis. The vessel sank with its cargo of coal after a collision with the ss Roman. In dive guides the wreck is usually called the “1906 wreck” after the year it sank and was [...] - The recent discovery of Palaeolithic handaxes in the North Sea has underlined the link between aggregate dredging and archaeology.
To help let aggregate companies know where prehistoric remains might be found, and to target new surveys, Wessex Archaeology has been looking again at old records of artefacts found at sea and on the coast.
Often, little of [...] -
The reports from Wessex Archaeology’s ALSF Seabed Prehistory Project have been made available online via Scribd, where they can be viewed or downloaded as pdfs.
The reports set out details of marine geophysical, geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmental studies.
There are eight volumes covering five study areas, plus an Introduction and Results and Conclusions.
Further details of the Seabed Prehistory [...] - England’s Shipping is an ALSF project that we completed in 2004. The project developed a method that would make documentary records of pre-1730 shipping activity more accessible, so they could be used in assessing the archaeological potential of offshore areas. We’ve recently been reviewing some of our older project pages and making updates. [...]
