Graveyard of Ships | The Royal Anne Galley

On 10 November 1721 the Royal Anne Galley sank after hitting treacherous rocks at Lizard Point in Cornwall, tragically claiming the lives of more than 200 people.

The dead include Captain Francis Willis and his crew who had been on their way to Barbados to hunt down pirates.  

Join Helen and marine archaeologist David Gibbins as they uncover the tale of the 300-year-old wreck and the disaster's eerie aftermath.   

The Royal Anne Galley is one of thousands of shipwrecks around Britain's coastline. Its haunting story reveals the realities of 18th Century life and death at sea. 

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Production
Host: Helen Antrobus  
Producer: Michelle Douglass  
Sound Editor: Jesus Gomez 

Contributor
David Gibbins

Discover More: 

Discover David Gibbins’ A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks: 
https://davidgibbins.com/a-history-of-the-world-in-twelve-shipwrecks  

Find out more about The Lizard in Cornwall: 
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/lizard-point  

Head to National Trust on Youtube for podcast videos and shorts:  
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbSxeBQ-U-goXdmkiNBSrrg  

If you’d like to get in touch with feedback or a story idea you can contact us at [e-mail]  

Episode Transcript

DAVID GIBBONS (00:41):
It was night time when it happens. Many of the men
were actually asleep. They werecaught in a change of wind, a
westerly wind.
Within minutes, it had keeledover and started to split. It
broke in two.
That intensity of emotion ofpeople who suddenly realise that

(01:02):
their lives are about to end.

HELEN ANTROBUS (01:05):
The Lizard Point in Cornwall is known for its
hidden coves and blue seas.You'd have no idea that
underneath these waves lies anotorious graveyard of ships.
And there's one disaster that'sespecially remembered here
because of the scale of liveslost and the strange aftermath.

(01:27):
The Royal Anne Galley.
Our history is all around us,and I'm transporting you back
for the inside story of thepeople, places, and moments that
made us.
I'm Helen Antrobus. Lean in fora tale from time. Back When.

(01:53):
The British Isles are steeped inmaritime history. Over the
centuries, shipwrecks were partof life and remain imprinted in
our culture.

DAVID GIBBONS (02:03):
The UK has 50,000 plus shipwrecks around it. There
are stretches of coast in thesouthwest of England which are
literally carpeted withshipwrecks from the last 2,000
plus years.

HELEN ANTROBUS (02:17):
David Gibbons is a marine archaeologist, diver
and author of the book A Historyof the World in 12 Shipwrecks.
David lives in Cornwall, not farfrom the Lizard Peninsula.
The Lizard Point is a beautyspot, but the geology that makes
it distinctive has also been thecause of dozens of disasters.

(02:37):
But there's one wreck that keepsDavid up at night.
The Royal Anne Galley has lainon the seafloor for 300 years
and is still shrouded inmystery.
It's story lets us glimpse into18th century life at sea and a
doomed voyage.

DAVID GIBBONS (02:57):
The Royal Anne set off in early November 1721,
heading towards the Caribbean.
She has on board her crew,Captain Willis, who's a
typically experienced mariner ofthat period. She also had on
board Lord Belhaven, who was aScottish peer.

(03:19):
He'd just been appointed asgovernor of Barbados, which at
the time was one of the moreprosperous of the island
colonies in the Caribbean,prospering because of the sugar
trade and unfortunately on theback of slavery.

(03:40):
What we know about the crew, weknow their names, we know their
ages. Sailors did often comefrom poor working-class
backgrounds.
Most of them would have beenEnglish, but they were probably
a smattering of people fromother nations as well.
There are wills of the men onthe ship that were taken out

(04:02):
before they left Portsmouth,which are typical sailors'
wills. And they often did thatbecause of the expectation of
risk and danger on long voyages.
There's one man called ThomasWhaley, and he takes out a will
where he talks of hisexpectation of getting back to
the woman he loves and how she'sthe love of his life. And it's

(04:22):
all terribly poignant becauseyou know what's going to happen
to him.

HELEN ANTROBUS (04:29):
So Captain Francis Willis, Lord Belhaven, a
handful of dignitaries and thecrew, around 210 people on board
in total, are ready to set sailfor the Caribbean.
They're expecting a voyage ofaround six weeks to cover the
4,000 miles across the Atlantic.On board, Captain Willis is

(04:51):
under pressure. He has been seta daunting task by the
Admiralty.
After Willis makes the journey,taking his passengers to
Barbados, he and his crew are tohunt down some of the most
dangerous outlaws on the seas,the pirates of the Caribbean.

DAVID GIBBONS (05:08):
These were the orders for his final voyage.
You are to inform yourselfwhether any piratical ships or
vessels are hovering about thatgovernment, and if so, you are
to proceed in quest of suchpirates, and use your utmost
endeavours to take, sink, burnor otherwise destroy them.
And this is extraordinarybecause this is right at the

(05:31):
time of the height of thepirates of the Caribbean.

HELEN ANTROBUS (05:39):
But the Royal Anne Galley would not meet her
fate fighting pirates.
Captain Willis and his crew areunaware the true dangers of
their voyage lurk much closer tohome.
In fact, they'd barely left portwhen problems started.

(06:00):
In the 18th century, shipwrecksare all too common. Galleys like
the Royal Anne look like how youmight imagine a pirate ship.
They're made of wood, propelledwith a wind sail and rowed with
oars. But even if galleys aresolidly built, disaster isn't
far away. Before moderntechnological safety

(06:21):
advancements, sailors depend ontheir knowledge of the seas.
In this era, people navigate bythe stars and use basic
compasses.
And ships are very vulnerable tohuman error, hidden rocks, and
weather.
On the night of the 10th ofNovember, 1721, the Royal Anne

(06:43):
Galley has set sail and beginsher passage through Lizard
Point.

DAVID GIBBONS (06:48):
The Lizard Peninsula is like a great sort
of slumbering giant prehistoriccreature and the rocks off the
end are like the kind of decayedteeth sticking out of the sea.
The tides at a certain pointcome at the same time so you get
the ebb and the flow hittingeach other and causing eddies
and whirlpools you know justabsolutely lethal water

(07:08):
conditions.

HELEN ANTROBUS (07:09):
Unfortunately for the crew of the Royal Anne
as they pass Lizard Point astorm is blowing in.

DAVID GIBBONS (07:18):
It was night time when it happens many of the men
were actually asleep.
They were caught in a change ofwind, a westerly wind.

HELEN ANTROBUS (07:28):
The crew realized they need to turn back,
but it's too late.

DAVID GIBBONS (07:34):
The ship was blown into this terrifying rock
called Man O' War, which jutsout from the southwest side of
the rocks off the peninsula.
Within minutes, it had keeledover and started to split, it
broke in two, and very, veryquickly dispersed as flotsam and

(07:56):
jetsam, and most of the crew aswell, very few of whom probably
would have been able to swim andeven if you had been able to
swim, the chances of survivalwould be very small.

HELEN ANTROBUS (08:06):
As the Royal Anne crashes violently, hundreds
of men are trapped, draggedunderwater, or tossed against
jagged rocks. Their homeland isin their sights, but out of
reach.

DAVID GIBBONS (08:19):
They were a stone's throw from the wreck
site to the shore.

HELEN ANTROBUS (08:25):
In just a few hours, the Royal Anne Galley is
catastrophically smashed againstrocks and sinks just metres from
the shore.

(08:46):
By the morning light, of around210 people on board, there are
only three survivors, all localmen.
One of them clinging to a rockall night.
Everyone else, Captain Willis,the dignitaries and crew, are
all dead.

(09:10):
After a shipwreck in the 18thcentury, communities lament the
tragedy. People are especiallyaffected by the idea of lost
souls or unknown bodies washedup who can't be buried properly
in church grounds.
And then there are thepracticalities after a wreck.
Wreckers are scavengers who loota lost ship.

(09:34):
Local builders might use woodfrom shipwrecks to build houses
and other members of thecommunity, like the clergy,
might be expected to pick bodiesand even body parts along the
coast.
In the case of the Royal Anne,it's the aftermath of the wreck,
where things take a strange andeerie turn.

DAVID GIBBONS (09:54):
There's a local legend that many of the bodies
were brought up and buried inmass graves in a place called
Pistil Meadow.

HELEN ANTROBUS (10:03):
Pistil Meadow is today enjoyed as a beauty spot
along the coastal path. But formany years, people avoided going
there at night, reportingstrange happenings.
There are sightings of a ghostlyfigure in a three-point sailor's
hat roaming the coastline, andreports of dogs acting
strangely. Linked to a gruesomebelief that dogs had savaged

(10:27):
some of the bodies that washedashore.

DAVID GIBBONS (10:30):
If you do the coast path walk at Lizard Point,
it's a slightly haunting placeto be in, especially at night
when it's misty.
Even now on the Lizard, youspeak to fishermen and people
whose families have been herefor generations and they
remember all this.

HELEN ANTROBUS (10:45):
The 300-year-old mystery of whether Pistil Meadow
is the spot where hundreds ofbodies from the Royal Anne are
buried in unmarked graves, isn'tjust a fisherman's tale.
Some experts are so convinced bythe legend that in 2015, the
National Trust and the MaritimeArchaeology Sea Trust helped

(11:06):
organise an excavation of themeadow to try and find the
missing bodies.

DAVID GIBBONS (11:12):
And no bodies were found, but the excavation
was only possible in a fairlylimited part of the meadow. It
is actually still very possiblethat there are bodies there, but
they were never discovered.
So what was already a kind ofmystery continues to be so.

HELEN ANTROBUS (11:31):
David Gibbons is one of the few people to have
visited the Royal Anne wreck. Hehas to wait for the perfect
conditions, as it's still atreacherous stretch of water for
divers.

DAVID GIBBONS (11:43):
My most memorable dive on the Royal Anne was the
very first one I did. I decidedto take the plunge, went down
and pulled myself down throughthis kelp and got into a gully
and didn't see anything for alittle while and then saw
something orange and rusty.
And this was a cannonball. And Irealized this was just the right
size.
It was a nine pounder ball forthe cannon that we knew the

(12:04):
Royal Anne was carrying.
And the Royal Anne is one of therichest wrecks of Cornwall.
A lot of gold was found and thisis to be expected on a ship that
was carrying so many wealthy menoff to Barbados.
Those finds really add to thecolour and move it a bit beyond
archaeology into the excitementof treasure hunting as well.

(12:26):
What I think when I look out atLizard Point is that I've been
underwater there and I know whatit looks like.
I've seen this swept underwaterseascape of rock and kelp and
wreckage sticking up out of it.
And it's exciting andfrightening and brings with

(12:51):
great vividness to life thefinal moments of so many of
those people who were wreckedagainst those rocks over the
centuries and so it's like agreat book of history.

HELEN ANTROBUS (13:05):
So next time you're by the sea, look beyond
the waves and take a moment toconsider the vessels, lives and
stories that lie beneath thesurface.
Thank you for joining me forthis episode of Back When.

(13:29):
If you'd like to find out moreabout the Lizard's history head
to the National Trust websiteand do follow, rate and review
us on your favourite podcastapp.
If you like the sea, land andstories about people and
wildlife why not check out WildTales from National Trust
Podcasts, I am sure you'll enjoyit.
See you next time.