Kate McBrien, curator of historic collections at the Maine State Museum, places a wooden tampion in an exhibit featuring a cannon and other objects recovered from the wreck of the Nottingham Galley. Photo by Kenneth Roberts.
Maine State Museum Commemorates 300th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Nottingham Galley. The Maine State Museum in Augusta marks the 300th anniversary of one of Maine s most storied nautical disasters with a new exhibit of objects recovered from the underwater wreck site of the British merchant ship, the Nottingham Galley. Loaded with butter, cheese, and cordage, the Nottingham Galley and its fifteen-man crew set sail for Massachusetts from Ireland in September 1710.
After days of worsening weather, the Nottingham Galley crashed into a ledge on Boon Island near York s Cape Neddick during the stormy night of December 11, 1710. The men survived but the ship and its contents were destroyed. The grisly fame of the Nottingham Galley s story lies in what followed during the twenty-four days that the ship s crew was marooned on Boon Island, explains Maine State Museum Chief Archaeologist Dr. Bruce Bourque.
Faced with starvation, cold, and extreme privation, they cannibalized one of their fellow crew members who had died of exposure. The museum s small exhibit makes reference to that story. Additionally, we spotlight another aspect of survival related to the Nottingham Galley, continues Bourque. That survival concerns the ship s cannons and related cannon-firing supplies recovered from the sea floor by archaeologists in 1995.
Following a challenging, emergency recovery effort and subsequent conservation of the water-logged and deteriorating objects, the cannons and supplies survive to this day as a remarkable, permanent part of the Maine State Museum s collection. The exhibit features one of the ship s nine recovered cannons, along with a cannon ball, wadding, and powder bag. The exhibit s photographs and video show the underwater archaeology conducted by Dr. Warren Riess of the University of Maine s Darling Marine Center. The exhibit, The Wreck of the Nottingham Galley, will be on view through March 2011 in the museum s lobby area. The Maine State Museum is located in the State House Complex in Augusta. Hours are Tuesday Friday, 9 to 5; Saturday, 10 to 4. The museum is closed all state holidays, as well as state government closure days.
For more information, www.mainestatemuseum.org Photo caption: Kate McBrien, Curator of Historic Collections at the Maine State Museum, places a wooden tampion in an exhibit featuring a cannon and other objects recovered from the wreck of the Nottingham Galley. A British merchant ship, the Nottingham Galley was destroyed 300 years ago this month when it ran aground on Boon Island in York. The story of the Nottingham Galley is also the subject of a well-known historical novel, Boon Island, by Kenneth Roberts. Photo courtesy of the Maine State Museum
Event Location: Maine State MuseumState House Complex, Augusta, ME 04330
One Comments to “Maine State Museum Commemorates 300th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Nottingham Galley”
[...] subject of Kenneth Roberts’ Boone Island. Take a look at the brief write up of the exhibit here. If you’re in Maine, go visit and let me know how it [...]