DAVID GIBBONS: It was night time when it happens. Many of the men

were actually asleep. They were caught in a change of wind, a

westerly wind.

Within minutes, it had keeled over and started to split. It

broke in two.

That intensity of emotion of people who suddenly realise that

their lives are about to end.

HELEN ANTROBUS: The Lizard Point in Cornwall is known for its

hidden coves and blue seas. You'd have no idea that

underneath these waves lies a notorious graveyard of ships.

And there's one disaster that's especially remembered here

because of the scale of lives lost and the strange aftermath.

The Royal Anne Galley.

Our history is all around us, and I'm transporting you back

for the inside story of the people, places, and moments that

made us.

I'm Helen Antrobus. Lean in for a tale from time. Back When.

The British Isles are steeped in maritime history. Over the

centuries, shipwrecks were part of life and remain imprinted in

our culture.

DAVID GIBBONS: The UK has 50,000 plus shipwrecks around it. There

are stretches of coast in the southwest of England which are

literally carpeted with shipwrecks from the last 2,000

plus years.

HELEN ANTROBUS: David Gibbons is a marine archaeologist, diver

and author of the book A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks.

David lives in Cornwall, not far from the Lizard Peninsula.

The Lizard Point is a beauty spot, but the geology that makes

it distinctive has also been the cause of dozens of disasters.

But there's one wreck that keeps David up at night.

The Royal Anne Galley has lain on the seafloor for 300 years

and is still shrouded in mystery.

It's story lets us glimpse into 18th century life at sea and a

doomed voyage.

DAVID GIBBONS: The Royal Anne set off in early November 1721,

heading towards the Caribbean.

She has on board her crew, Captain Willis, who's a

typically experienced mariner of that period. She also had on

board Lord Belhaven, who was a Scottish peer.

He'd just been appointed as governor of Barbados, which at

the time was one of the more prosperous of the island

colonies in the Caribbean, prospering because of the sugar

trade and unfortunately on the back of slavery.

What we know about the crew, we know their names, we know their

ages. Sailors did often come from poor working-class

backgrounds.

Most of them would have been English, but they were probably

a smattering of people from other nations as well.

There are wills of the men on the ship that were taken out

before they left Portsmouth, which are typical sailors'

wills. And they often did that because of the expectation of

risk and danger on long voyages.

There's one man called Thomas Whaley, and he takes out a will

where he talks of his expectation of getting back to

the woman he loves and how she's the love of his life. And it's

all terribly poignant because you know what's going to happen

to him.

HELEN ANTROBUS: So Captain Francis Willis, Lord Belhaven, a

handful of dignitaries and the crew, around 210 people on board

in total, are ready to set sail for the Caribbean.

They're expecting a voyage of around six weeks to cover the

4,000 miles across the Atlantic. On board, Captain Willis is

under pressure. He has been set a daunting task by the

Admiralty.

After Willis makes the journey, taking his passengers to

Barbados, he and his crew are to hunt down some of the most

dangerous outlaws on the seas, the pirates of the Caribbean.

DAVID GIBBONS: These were the orders for his final voyage.

You are to inform yourself whether any piratical ships or

vessels are hovering about that government, and if so, you are

to proceed in quest of such pirates, and use your utmost

endeavours to take, sink, burn or otherwise destroy them.

And this is extraordinary because this is right at the

time of the height of the pirates of the Caribbean.

HELEN ANTROBUS: But the Royal Anne Galley would not meet her

fate fighting pirates.

Captain Willis and his crew are unaware the true dangers of

their voyage lurk much closer to home.

In fact, they'd barely left port when problems started.

In the 18th century, shipwrecks are all too common. Galleys like

the Royal Anne look like how you might imagine a pirate ship.

They're made of wood, propelled with a wind sail and rowed with

oars. But even if galleys are solidly built, disaster isn't

far away. Before modern technological safety

advancements, sailors depend on their knowledge of the seas.

In this era, people navigate by the stars and use basic

compasses.

And ships are very vulnerable to human error, hidden rocks, and

weather.

On the night of the 10th of November, 1721, the Royal Anne

Galley has set sail and begins her passage through Lizard

Point.

DAVID GIBBONS: The Lizard Peninsula is like a great sort

of slumbering giant prehistoric creature and the rocks off the

end are like the kind of decayed teeth sticking out of the sea.

The tides at a certain point come at the same time so you get

the ebb and the flow hitting each other and causing eddies

and whirlpools you know just absolutely lethal water

conditions.

HELEN ANTROBUS: Unfortunately for the crew of the Royal Anne

as they pass Lizard Point a storm is blowing in.

DAVID GIBBONS: It was night time when it happens many of the men

were actually asleep.

They were caught in a change of wind, a westerly wind.

HELEN ANTROBUS: The crew realized they need to turn back,

but it's too late.

DAVID GIBBONS: The ship was blown into this terrifying rock

called Man O' War, which juts out from the southwest side of

the rocks off the peninsula.

Within minutes, it had keeled over and started to split, it

broke in two, and very, very quickly dispersed as flotsam and

jetsam, and most of the crew as well, very few of whom probably

would have been able to swim and even if you had been able to

swim, the chances of survival would be very small.

HELEN ANTROBUS: As the Royal Anne crashes violently, hundreds

of men are trapped, dragged underwater, or tossed against

jagged rocks. Their homeland is in their sights, but out of

reach.

DAVID GIBBONS: They were a stone's throw from the wreck

site to the shore.

HELEN ANTROBUS: In just a few hours, the Royal Anne Galley is

catastrophically smashed against rocks and sinks just metres from

the shore.

By the morning light, of around 210 people on board, there are

only three survivors, all local men.

One of them clinging to a rock all night.

Everyone else, Captain Willis, the dignitaries and crew, are

all dead.

After a shipwreck in the 18th century, communities lament the

tragedy. People are especially affected by the idea of lost

souls or unknown bodies washed up who can't be buried properly

in church grounds.

And then there are the practicalities after a wreck.

Wreckers are scavengers who loot a lost ship.

Local builders might use wood from shipwrecks to build houses

and other members of the community, like the clergy,

might be expected to pick bodies and even body parts along the

coast.

In the case of the Royal Anne, it's the aftermath of the wreck,

where things take a strange and eerie turn.

DAVID GIBBONS: There's a local legend that many of the bodies

were brought up and buried in mass graves in a place called

Pistil Meadow.

HELEN ANTROBUS: Pistil Meadow is today enjoyed as a beauty spot

along the coastal path. But for many years, people avoided going

there at night, reporting strange happenings.

There are sightings of a ghostly figure in a three-point sailor's

hat roaming the coastline, and reports of dogs acting

strangely. Linked to a gruesome belief that dogs had savaged

some of the bodies that washed ashore.

DAVID GIBBONS: If you do the coast path walk at Lizard Point,

it's a slightly haunting place to be in, especially at night

when it's misty.

Even now on the Lizard, you speak to fishermen and people

whose families have been here for generations and they

remember all this.

HELEN ANTROBUS: The 300-year-old mystery of whether Pistil Meadow

is the spot where hundreds of bodies from the Royal Anne are

buried in unmarked graves, isn't just a fisherman's tale.

Some experts are so convinced by the legend that in 2015, the

National Trust and the Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust helped

organise an excavation of the meadow to try and find the

missing bodies.

DAVID GIBBONS: And no bodies were found, but the excavation

was only possible in a fairly limited part of the meadow. It

is actually still very possible that there are bodies there, but

they were never discovered.

So what was already a kind of mystery continues to be so.

HELEN ANTROBUS: David Gibbons is one of the few people to have

visited the Royal Anne wreck. He has to wait for the perfect

conditions, as it's still a treacherous stretch of water for

divers.

DAVID GIBBONS: My most memorable dive on the Royal Anne was the

very first one I did. I decided to take the plunge, went down

and pulled myself down through this kelp and got into a gully

and didn't see anything for a little while and then saw

something orange and rusty.

And this was a cannonball. And I realized this was just the right

size.

It was a nine pounder ball for the cannon that we knew the

Royal Anne was carrying.

And the Royal Anne is one of the richest wrecks of Cornwall.

A lot of gold was found and this is to be expected on a ship that

was carrying so many wealthy men off to Barbados.

Those finds really add to the colour and move it a bit beyond

archaeology into the excitement of treasure hunting as well.

What I think when I look out at Lizard Point is that I've been

underwater there and I know what it looks like.

I've seen this swept underwater seascape of rock and kelp and

wreckage sticking up out of it.

And it's exciting and frightening and brings with

great vividness to life the final moments of so many of

those people who were wrecked against those rocks over the

centuries and so it's like a great book of history.

HELEN ANTROBUS: So next time you're by the sea, look beyond

the waves and take a moment to consider the vessels, lives and

stories that lie beneath the surface.

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Back When.

If you'd like to find out more about the Lizard's history head

to the National Trust website and do follow, rate and review

us on your favourite podcast app.

If you like the sea, land and stories about people and

wildlife why not check out Wild Tales from National Trust

Podcasts, I am sure you'll enjoy it.

See you next time.