ARTEFACTS recovered from the wreck of a warship, which sank in the Solent in 1758 are on show in Poole today.

Part-funded by money from a LIBOR grant, Bournemouth University (BU), alongside partner organisations The Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust (MAST) and The National Museum of the Royal Navy, excavated a selection of finds from the HMS Invincible, which originally set sail under the colours of the French Navy in 1747.

The 74-gun ship lost the function of its rudder and drifted into a sand bar in the East Solent between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. After three days, despite the safe evacuation of its entire crew, the ship sank. Eventually re-discovered in 1979 by a local fisherman, artefacts recently recovered from the warship include tally sticks, which indicate with hand-carved Roman numerals the type and calibre of each gun on board, a bottle of unopened wine, which likely belonged to officers aboard the ship, and a block-and-tackle in pristine condition.

The wreck has also been highlighted by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, whose hand-signed letter acknowledges the importance of the project to excavate the wreck.

BU archaeologist Dave Parham, who has been involved with the project since it began, said: “MAST’s Maritime Archaeological Centre on the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole is the home of the Invincible Project.

“On Saturday, we have an open day at the centre, in which the public and others can come and view the material recovered from the wreck this summer, which includes elements of gunnery equipment and rigging.”

Dan Pascoe, wreck licensee and marine archaeologist, added: “Invincible became the future British warship design – we can gauge this from the fact that at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, 50 per cent of ships were this type.

“On Saturday, we are going to show off the finds that we recovered this summer, from gunnery and rigging equipment to personal possessions. It’ll be a chance to even smell some of these artefacts, like the tarred rope, which is actually quite a nice smell I think! It’s a smell that hasn’t changed for hundreds of years – exactly the same smell that a seaman aboard Invincible would have smelt in 1758.”

The open day runs from 10am to 6pm at Unit 19, Cowley Road, Nuffield Industrial Estate, Poole, BH17 0UJ.