Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War is a Heritage Lottery Funded (HLF) four year project devised and delivered by the Maritime Archaeology Trust to coincide with the centenary of the Great War. At the heart of the project is a desire to raise the profile of a currently under-represented aspect of the First World War. While attention is often focused on the Western Front and major naval battles like Jutland, historic remains from the war lie, largely forgotten, in and around our seas, rivers and estuaries.
With over 700 wartime wrecks along England’s south coast alone, the conflict has left a rich heritage legacy and many associated stories of bravery and sacrifice. These underwater memorials represent the vestiges of a vital, yet little known, struggle that took place on a daily basis, just off our shores. Through a programme of fieldwork, research, temporary exhibitions and outreach, the project aims to engage communities and volunteers and provide a lasting legacy of information and learning resources relating to First World War wrecks for future generations.
The Forgotten Wrecks project arranges regular talks at a range of locations, and presents mobile exhibits via its Discovery Bus and event-tent.The project also has a number of temporary exhibitions on display up and down the south coast. Through these exhibitions you can discover more about the project, the war at sea, and wrecks local to the host county.
Forgotten Wrecks Temporary Exhibitions can currently be seen at:
Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, Kent 5th August - 15th November 2015
Sunken Secrets, Isle of Wight 25th March - 10th November 2015
Seven Sisters Country Park Visitor Centre, Sussex 3rd June - 18th November 2015
Collumpton Services (M5 Junction 28), Devon 18th June - 18th December 2015
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, Cornwall 18th September 2015 - 21st March 2016
Current confirmed future exhibition dates and locations:
Look and Sea, Littlehampton, Sussex (3rd November 2015 - 14th March 2016)
Devon Heritage Centre, Exeter, Devon (18th December 2015 - 15th February 2016)
Eastbourne Redoubt Fortress, Sussex (14th March - 14th November 2016)
Bursledon Brickworks, Hampshire (29 March - 20 July 2016)
Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall (March - September 2016)
South Foreland Lighthouse, Kent (March - October 2016)
Calshot Castle, Hampshire (1 April - 30 September 2017)
Look and Sea, Littlehampton, Sussex (May - September 2017)
Potential venues
The Forgotten Wrecks Temporary Exhibitions have been designed to be extremely flexible. The information panels are free-standing and modular, so they can be displayed in a variety of ways, depending on the space available. The exhibition can include a table case of artefacts and/or a costume case. There is no cost associated with hosting a Forgotten Wrecks Temporary Exhibition as this has been fully funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
If you or your organisation would like to host one of the temporary exhibitions (2015-2017), please contact Kathy at kathryn.dagless@ maritimearchaeologytrust.org.
www.forgottenwrecks.org
