An archaeologist diver heads for the wreck.

ARTEFACTS from Alderney’s Elizabethan wreck will be exhibited in the Tower of London next month. On Monday, a team of divers will resume excavating the 16th-century ship, described as the most significant discovery since the Mary Rose.

Mensun Bound, of St Peter’s College, Oxford, will direct the operation again, having begun the first excavation in the early 1990s. He told the Guernsey Press that progress on the project had been slow because of insufficient funding and due to the nature of the site.

Furious currents mean diving can take place only between tides and the constantly shifting sands which cover the site ensure any excavation is backfilled within days, if not hours.

‘However, nobody in the team ever doubts it is worth it, for we know we are illuminating one of the most exciting and complex periods in English history,’ Mr Bound said.

The shipwreck was discovered in 1977 around three-quarters-of-a-mile north of the island’s lighthouse, but work on it could now be about to move up a gear following recent activities of the Alderney Maritime Trust.

The trust, which was established in 2005, has Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, as its patron and is currently attempting to attract sponsorship for the project.

The duke has already done his bit by hosting a fund-raising dinner at Buckingham Palace.

Mr Bound, who attended the event, said: ‘When the duke was asked to be patron, he said he’d be delighted to take the role on and help us in any way he could.

‘He has been true to his word and has shown immense interest in our discoveries. The dinner he held was a wonderful treat and helped the trust raise valuable funds which will go some way in enabling us to continue working.’

Mr Bound plans to hold an open day in Alderney in mid-June before the artefacts are shipped to London for the start of a public exhibition on the 21st.

‘At the moment we are planning to bring the ship alongside the main harbour so that people in Alderney can see exactly what has been discovered,’ he said.

‘It will then be shipped to London for the exhibition, where it will arrive via the River Thames.’

More than 1,500 items, including firearms, powder flasks, swords, daggers and helmets, have been recovered since local fisherman Bertie Cosheril found an old musket tangled up in the back line of one of his crab pots more than 30 years ago. And almost all the artefacts have been conserved, recorded at an academic level and published in book form.

Said Mr Bound (pictured diving on the wreck, left): ‘What Bertie found has helped us reveal one of the most important wrecks in the world.

‘The finds are sometimes repetitive but no one ever gets blasé, as every excavation brings new discoveries and surprises.

‘There is still much to be done. Large areas of the site remain untouched and we are confident they contain new information on how the ship was constructed, the society on board and the munitions carried.’

• Visit www.alderneywreck.com for further information on the project.