Rare ship discovery at harbour

Published on Monday 12 May 2008 10:44

A SET of supporting pillars found inside a building in Dunbar have been identified as the most complete set of timbers from one merchant ship found in Scotland.

Archaeologists from East Lothian Council made the find while investigating the McArthur's Stores building at Cromwell Harbour, Dunbar, as part of a 1.15 million revamp.

They said the columns would have been salvaged from a 17th century merchant vessel, a fact confirmed by maritime historians. Dr Robert Prescott, a former professor of maritime history and archaeology at St Andrew's University, said: "The recycled ship timbers are very interesting because they are not all that common in Scotland.

"Many of the well-known shipyards where these have been found have been from war ships.

"This is a very important site because it is much less common to find timber from merchant ships."