Dutch ship identified as source of 17th-century Devon gold wreck
Researchers say a wreck found near Salcombe in 1995 was the Dom van Keulen, a Dutch trader lost in 1633 with Moroccan gold aboard.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
3 min read
Researchers have identified a 17th-century wreck off Devon as the Dom van Keulen, a Dutch merchant vessel that sank while carrying North African gold from Morocco to the Netherlands. Bournemouth University said the finding resolves a nearly 30-year effort to explain how more than 400 gold coins came to rest on the seabed near Salcombe.
The identification is set out in a new British Museum publication, From Morocco to the Coast of England: The Story of the Dom van Keulen and its Remarkable Cargo. Bournemouth University said researchers from the British Museum, the university and the South West Maritime Archaeology Group have worked on the wreck since its discovery in 1995.
According to Bournemouth University, independent historian Ian Friel found records at the National Archives that linked the vessel to a voyage from Morocco in autumn 1633. Those documents said the ship faced severe weather, developed a leak and went down near Salcombe; Bournemouth University said all crew members survived.
Dave Parham, professor of maritime archaeology at Bournemouth University and co-editor of the book, said the ship’s cargo included 150 bags of gum arabic, 64 bags of saltpeter, 320 goat skins and 9,000 Barbary ducats, the gold coins associated with Morocco. Parham said much of the load is believed to have been recovered soon after the sinking, while more than 400 coins stayed underwater until the South West Maritime Archaeology Group found them in 1995.
The British Museum said the recovered coins, along with other objects from the wreck, are now on display. Items from the site include gold jewelry, a pewter bowl and spoon, pottery, a stamp seal, a gold finger nugget and a ceramic sounding weight shaped like a fish, according to the museum and Bournemouth University.
The find connects the wreck to a wider trading system linking Morocco, the Low Countries and Britain in the 1600s, according to Parham. Bournemouth University said Dutch merchants traded manufactured goods for West African gold, and imported ducats were often melted down to make Dutch gold coins that circulated widely in international commerce.
Researchers still know little about the Dom van Keulen’s appearance, Bournemouth University said. No known paintings of the ship have been identified, while Parham said the wreck area is about 30 meters long and lies in roughly 18 meters of water, with cannons, anchors and smaller cargo items present at the site.
Jeremy D. Hill, head of research at the British Museum, said the discovery of African gold off Devon prompted questions that required a team of specialists to answer. The museum described the wreck as internationally significant because it ties a Dutch ship, North African gold and the English coast into one archaeological record.
The book also examines the Sa’dian Sharifs, the Arab Sharifian dynasty that ruled Morocco during the period when the Dom van Keulen was trading there, according to Bournemouth University. The British Museum lists the publication with the DOI 10.48582/eh04-q803.
The wreck is protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 and managed by Historic England, according to Bournemouth University. Diving is limited to people licensed by the secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, while the National Coastwatch Institution’s Prawle Point station monitors the area and Devon & Cornwall Police patrol nearby under Operation Birdie, a national effort to prevent interference with historic wrecks.
This story draws on original reporting from Phys.org.