DetectingWales.com

RHOSSILI BAY, GOWER PENINSULA, SOUTH WALES
THE DOLLAR SHIP
Someone told me a bit about it......  That there was a wonman called Catherine of Braganza was the Portuguese princess who married Charles 11 in 1662. Local tradition in the Gower Peninsula mains that a galleon bearing Catherine of Braganza's dowry to Charles was wrecked in Rhossili Bay.      An immense quantity of spanish coins was briefly uncovered in 1807 by the action of the tide, and again in 1833............................  Thats all i was told.................... :) :) :)

hi Beffy, DIG IT told me a good while back that a few of the portugese coins have been found by detectrists over the years !!!!!! ;)

I'd heared that as well , Gold coins at that. They crop up occasionally in Bluepool along the coast.

King Charles II was restored to the English throne in May 1660, and 1661, he signed a marriage treaty to marry Catharine of Braganza (Catarina de Bragança), the Portugese Infanta. The royal bride arrived in Portsmouth on 13 May 1963, and in her dowry (which was considerable) included many treasure ships, a chest of tea, the port of Tangiers (in Morocco) and the port of Bombay (modern Mumbai, in India).


HOWEVER

As gold moidores were only minted from 1690 to 1722 it is unlikely the Catherine of Breganza link in genuine.

She married King Charles II in 1662.
King Charles dies in 1685 before any miodores existed
Catherine died in 1705

There is definitely a bullion carrying ship out there though.

WOW  INTERESTING  INFO  ALL ,,,,,IVE  GOT  THE  TECTOR  AND THE  DIESEL   NOW  WHERE  WAS  THAT  BEACH  AGAIN   ??? ??? ???      HAHA ;D ;D    NO  BUT  SOUNDS  INTERESTING  GET  A  DW  RALLY  ON THAT  BEACH   I WILL SIGN UP   NOW    ;) ;)

Here is a pic...I wanna go!
Seriously though, a lot of people are asking about a rally and the fields are not available. How about a DW rally on a beach? Not all beaches have loads of tourists on them.

thats a great idea !........ ;D....a day at the beach and detecting too!.....i'm up for that !.... ;D....byron

As you look at that pic the wreck is to the right i have searched this beach for years and never found a gold coin there but still live in hope.

In the early nineteenth centuary after a fierce storm the wreck of the dollar ship was exposed the local squire and some of his men managed to fill a cart with silver dollars :o since then it as remained buried beneath the sands approximately in line with diles lake a fresh water stream that runs into the seamidway between the start of rhosilli and the worms head around the corner from the wormshead lies the bluepool here in the early nineteenth centuary whilst collecting shellfish a man noticed something glinting amongst the rocks in the morning sunlight he had found a portugese gold moidore coin so there must be a couple of treasure ships lying offshore waiting to be discovered ;D ;D

yea mole i;ve been told its not the main beach but the area to the left of worms headas you go down the steps

Surely with modern technology and the approximate known location of the wrecks these ships would have been found long ago?   

I found this link if anyone is interested.

http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/gower/english/Gower_008.htm (http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/gower/english/Gower_008.htm)

id like to have a crack at that beech and find one of them coins :o

The minute i get my permit for beach detecting,i am going down there.Cant wait. ;) ;) ;)

We have a mass of finds and wrecks all rolled into one.

The gold moidors are found round in the next bay by the Blue Pool (which is a pain to get to). There's another gold bullion ship further round towards the old iron lighthouse on Whiteford Sands.

In between there's Broughton Bay. A large wreck appeared on here a few years back then disappeared. There was also a small Torc found. The trouble with this site is the underlying clay which stays soft and swallows up coins and rings.

There was one hammered found on the beach twenty years back when Mick Turrell arranged a weeks find the silver dollars hunt. Not much else though small finds of silver pennies that the salt water have eated into do appear after the winter storms churn the beach.

The silver dollars are thought to be further south towards the Worms Head end. They reappear every hundred years or so. Mansel of Henllys was supposed to have made off with the bulk of the coins, but in 1807 the remains of the wreck could be seen again down at the low tide mark. A few locals are said to have recovered twelve pounds of silver coins plus pewter items. Then there was the 1833 gale. Coins were recovered and there was even a coffer dam constructed but this was destroyed overnight and the sand moved back in. I've seen a silver piece of eight that a youngster dug up half way between the white house and the steps but this is unlikely to be associated with the dollars. Also a mangled bit of a pewter plate from under the cliff at the Rhossili and that might be connected.

The modern wreck of rusty iron that can be seen  just to the north of the Diles lake outflow is supposed to be the spot where a northern detectorist would come each winter and recover some silver coins. Well I've being going to the beach each winter regularly and have never seen anyone detecting that area though I've had a few brass gaming tokens.

Its an interesting area and well worth a search but extreme tides seem the key to the old finds. Treat it as a modern finds beach and just hope that something more interesting turns up. There's enother surfers for ring finds the trouble is they tend not to be well brought up and only buy silver rings.

nice one brian bud   looks like i will have to fuel up the car  and  get out there  for a days tectin bud       if it ever stops  raining that is    ;D ;D ;D

let me know how it goes when you all go.........  If i know more like this will let you know so you can all go on that one as well.............

hi beefy, a book i read many years ago , gave the surname LUCAS as the finder of silver coins on the beach many years ago. it was said that he took a horse and cart, to the beach filled the cart with coins as there were that many covering the beach and was never heard of again. thats gospel :-\ :-\ :-\  mick

William Bevan is still remembered as the one who stripped his trousers off and tied the legs together to form a bag to carry his finds off in, so there's been plenty found but lots must remain.

There's lots of more doubtful stories of treasure round the whole of Wales.

Worm's Head Rhossili. John Leland (historian in Henry VIII's time) claimed that there was a cave that few dared enter at the point of the Head in which there is a door studded with great nails.

The Cavern of Ravens in South Glamorgan contains a chest of gold guarded by two ravens.

Then there's the Crown of King Rhys ap Twdwr in the Rhondda valley. In 1087 the ruler of West Wales lost a battle in the Rhondda valley and was never seen again. He was wearing his decorated helmet and also carried the crown with him. The crown was never found but the helmet was found between Tynewydd and Treherbert in a cleft in the rocks high above the road.

Moel Arthur overlooking the Vale of Clwyd has three claims to fame. Boudicca is supposed to be buried on the hill and there's also a great treasure in an iron chest. If you try to lift it out of the ground then a huge storm springs up and drives you away. Its also reputed to have been  the home of a local Prince.

Add the "Golden Calf" stolen from St.Illtyd's, or Captain Kidds treasure, or "The Treasure of the Eagles"....interesting one this as they were guarding a treasure and normal bullets didn't work so they had silver bullets made and got a priest to bless them. They still bounced off the birds so the treasure was never recovered. There's lots of tales but how much is true ?

wether the stories are fact or fiction my imagination is in overdrive in my head im knee deep in gold and silver great stories lads

i found this site, try it re. wrecks around wales.....www.shipwrecks-wales.co.uk........byron

 Try This One Byron,  you got your dots too close and they affected it mate
www.shipwrecks-wales.co.uk (http://www.shipwrecks-wales.co.uk)

thanks alan...i must stop using these dots ..... ;D ;D ;)....byron