SHIPWRECKED! THE HUNT FOR A BEAD

I took a solo trip to the Isles of Scilly to discover more about the shipwreck history of this rocky archipelago. Hundreds of wrecks line the shores of these remote islands, 28 miles off the coast of mainland Cornwall. Flying in by helicopter, I could see white water smashing jagged outcrops, many unmarked on maps even today let alone centuries ago.

There is strictly no metal detecting on Scilly - its Duchy-owned land which excludes detecting everywhere, but the islands are also scattered with the richest density of scheduled burial mounds and entrance graves in the British isles. So my search for objects is limited to eyes-only beach combing.

Looking for opportunities to hunt for artefacts, one wreck story in particular caught my attention - the story of an unidentified Dutch barque which met its end on the Western Rocks just beyond the most south westerly inhabited island of St Agnes. Its cargo included ballast of hundreds of thousands of trade or slave beads, some made in Africa, with a core of dark glass and outer shell of terracotta ceramic. Some of agate, and others of faceted Venetian glass. The vessel was lost to the sea in 1720, but its cargo of beads began to wash up on the islands centuries ago, giving rise to the name of one of its remote bays - Beady Pool.

I headed there on a stormy Autumn day, the 20 minute connecting boat journey across from St Marys rolling heavily, and showering its passengers with salt spray. I met an artist there, who makes jewellery and cards using fragments and whole beads found washed up on the shore. She explained that the beads are now very scarce and rarely found, but wished me luck on my search. I walked a mile or so through woodland lanes and over exposed moorland, dotted with huge granite boulder stacks, with a backdrop of the roughest sea slamming against the dark coast. It certainly wasn’t the pale golden crescent I’d seen in the Cornish tourism guides. I wasn’t too sure I was on the right bay, without 4G reception to check my location.. But I figured that since beads wash up on all the islands, I’d start there. Large sandy granules of granite, with periwinkle shells in terracotta closer fooling the eye. I squatted and walked, training my eye to scan the large ripples of sand left by a receding card. Minutes into my search I was rewarded by a very small cylindrical bead! Dark shiny terracotta ceramic to the outer shell, dark black glass to the inner core. I couldn’t believe it! Tiny treasure, representing 303 years of history, handmade, and tumbled in the sea to rest at my feet on the shore.

I picked it up, and took a few images in the landscape, before dropping it into an optimistically large drawstring finds bag made of hessian. I searched for a further two hours, paddling in freezing rock pools, feet grated on granite rock, and sat under a boulder in the lee of the wind for a picnic lunch. I didn’t find another. But I feel extremely lucky to have found one at all - my further travels through my stay on Scilly brought me into contact with many islanders and visitors who have searched for years to no avail.

It should be noted that when beach combing, always stick to the foreshore and exposed tidal sand. Never excavate for finds or disturb the habitat.

The history of these beads has some darkness. They are also known as slave trade beads - and were carried as ballast on the outward journey to be replaced with goods and human cargo on the way back. Used as a kind of currency, they were also traded for gold, ivory and local goods in foreign climes, to ease the passage of Europeans travelling to new lands. My own appreciation of this object focuses on its provenance as a shipwreck artefact, traceable to a date and a vessel, and its handmade qualities. I love finding old objects and particularly those that tell a story. I’m looking forward to getting back to Scilly in January for more beach combing adventures!