Divers uncover sunken treasure trove of pottery after investigating iron ship that sank off Scotland in 1859

Divers have uncovered a sunken treasure trove of Glasgow-made pottery after discovering a shipwrecked iron vessel that sank off Scotland in 1859. 

Graeme Bruce, 65, from the town of Oban, Argyll and Bute, was one of the divers on the expedition which came across the cache of items near Arran, an island off Scotland’s west coast, last summer. 

Around 50m below the surface, the group of seven found what is believed to be the wrecked SS Eagle, never before seen by divers. Its holds were full of ceramics and glass, primarily made by legendary Scottish crockery brand Bell’s Pottery. 

Among their finds were green glass bottles of fizzy drinks that still had beverages in them and their stoppers in, a decanter with liquid in, the ship’s toilet and a dish and saucer with an eagle on it, as per the supposed name of the ship.  

They also found the iron steamship’s bell which had an intricate model of eagle on top of it – which gave them an initial clue as to the steam-powered vessel’s identity. 

Retired engineer Mr Bruce, who has been diving for more than 35 years, told the BBC the rest of the crew had never gone down to an undived wreck before: ‘You could hear the people, the whoops of pleasure as they found stuff and saw stuff.’

While much of the wreck was gone, with iron more easily corroded than other metals like steel, the cargo survived and much of it was taken to the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow for assessment – as it has a collection of Bell’s Pottery. 

Potter, curator and expert Ruth Impey was stunned by the variety of pieces and how well-preserved they were: ‘The reason that their pieces are in such good condition is because they were buried in the mud at the bottom of the sea.’

Boat and diving trip company Wreckspeditions, based in the town of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, was celebrating its seventh anniversary with a dive on Arran last July, as reported by Divernet. 

The group – which also included trip organiser Nathan Messer, boat skipper Jason Coles, Adam Bolton, Martin Sharpe, John Eden and Mike Robinson – had first planned to dive down to a wrecked submarine called HMS Sealion but bad weather scuppered their plans. 

So, Mr Bruce used his navionics software – a kind of marine map – to find somewhere else they could dive instead. He spotted a couple of new suggested spots on the seabed. 

The next morning, the crew of seven dived one of the new areas – and found the shipwreck full of pottery. 

There was not much of the vessel itself left – they later found out it was an iron ship that sank in 1859, a metal that corrodes much quicker than steel. 

But that did not hamper the enthusiasm of the crew, Mr Bruce said, who circled the wreck in awe: ‘The guys were just ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic.’ 

There was a large amount of what is known as spongeware pottery, a stunning artisanal variety which has complex patterns hand-sponged onto a plain background. The technique originated in Scotland in the 1830s. 

Mr Bruce later went back to Arran and spent three days cataloguing what they had found and where on the wreck, sketching out maps of this. They used these plans to select what items they would lift from below the water. 

The experienced diver carried them to the surface by hand by himself over the course of three dives, accompanied by underwater photographer Naomi Watson to capture the amazing sights of the seabed. 

After cleaning up the cache of items and doing some research, they discovered all of the treasure trove was made in 1841 by Bell’s Pottery, run by brothers John and Matthew Perston Bell in Glasgow. 

The business’ specialities included ceramics for bathrooms, jugs, pitchers and dinner and tea sets popular in the UK and the US. 

But they also exported all over the world – Bell’s Pottery wares have since been found in South America, the Far East, Australia, Canada and more. 

Expert Ms Impey said the business was the largest and best-known of the potteries in Glasgow at the time.

The diving crew also learnt the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, a series of museums managed by the University of Glasgow, had a Bell’s Pottery collection, so they took the items there for examination. 

Ms Impey, brought in to help with the evaluation process, was struck by how many different kinds of pottery were recovered, from glass bottles, to dishes, to even a toilet.  

She said many people do not know that Glasgow was well-known for its pottery in the 19th century and was the centre of Scotland’s industry for these goods at the time. 

She added that Mr Bruce had to dive an incredible 53m to retrieve the items – which ‘is quite an extraordinary feat in itself’. 

SS Eagle was launched from the town of Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, in 1857 with more than 50 passengers, around 20 crew and 200 sheep as her primary cargo. 

It is thought she was headed for Northern Ireland, though research is ongoing, after the crockery discovery, into where exactly the cargo was intended for. 

In 1859, a damaged ship that was being towed crashed into the side of the Eagle, causing her to sink, with 11 people losing their lives. 

Mr Bruce also found four more uncharted wrecks off the coast of western Scotland in the same month as finding SS Eagle.