''Bristol Packet'' was a wooden

full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mas ...

built in New England in 1801 that was lost in 1808. A wreck, believed to be of ''Bristol Packet'' lies in sand on Madbrain beach at

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. The wreck has been scheduled as an

ancient monument An ancient monument can refer to any early or historical manmade structure or architecture. Certain ancient monuments are of cultural importance for nations and become symbols of international recognition, including the Baalbek, ruins of Baalbek ...

History

The ship was built in 1801 in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. She enters ''

Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited, trading as Lloyd's Register (LR), is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research ...

'' in 1802 with Daniel Orr, master, A. Harris, owner, and trade Bristol-Boston. The 1808 ''Lloyd's Register'' stated that she had been surveyed at

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in April 1806 and was registered at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Three vessels with the same name were included in the register, although the other two were sloops. ''Lloyd's Register'' gave her master's name as W. Day (changing to J. Barns). His Majesty's cutter , Lieutenant James Lloyd, recaptured the American ship ''Bristol Packet'', William Day, master, on 5 February 1807. A Spanish privateer had captured ''Bristol Packet'' as she was sailing from Liverpool to Philadelphia. ''Nile'' took her into Falmouth. ''Bristol Packet'', Day, master, was lost on a coastal voyage from

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in February 1808.

Wreck

A wreck that is believed to be that of ''Bristol Packet'' lies in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

on Madbrian sands off

where it has been exposed at different times including between February 2014 and July 2015 when a visual survey was undertaken and the exposed parts of the wreck photographed. The position of the wreck indicates it was driven on its beam ends onto the sands. The date of the vessel is confirmed by comparison of the way it was built of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...

, incorporating both

treenail A treenail, also trenail, trennel, or trunnel, is a wooden peg, pin, or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in timber frames, covered bridges, wooden shipbuilding and boat building. It is driven into a hole bored through tw ...

s and

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

fastenings, with other vessels of the same period. ''Bristol Packet'' is known to have had pine topsides.

Citations

{{1808 shipwrecks Minehead Archaeological sites in Somerset Scheduled monuments in West Somerset Shipwrecks in the Bristol Channel 1801 ships Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Full-rigged ships Maritime incidents in 1808 Ships built in the United States Captured ships