HISTORIC WRECKS (Hansard, 4 March 1970)

§ Mr. John Nott (St. Ives)
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to salvage from vessels wrecked within the territorial waters of the Unitd Kingdom before the year 1870; and for purposes connected therewith. In seeking the leave of the House, I should like to acknowledge the support I have received from—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The House decided some time ago that Ten-Minute Rule Bills should be taken at this time. Hon. Members must give an hon. Member introducing such a Bill the courtesy of a hearing.

§ Mr. Nott
In seeking this leave, I acknowledge the support I have received from the National Maritime Museum, the Committee of Nautical Archaeology, and a numbers of divers and explorers of ancient wrecks who recognise the urgent need for amendment to the law in this respect.
Some of my colleagues have misunderstood the term "historic wreck" as being an uncomplimentary reference to one or two elderly Members of the House. I assure the House that I do not seek to superannuate any Privy Councillors who sit below the Gangway, although I should be happy if some of them took leave of absence when I wish to speak. The Bill deals with wrecks, often barnacled with age, slung in mud, and decrepit at the joints—not of a parliamentary but of a nautical kind.
It is my privilege and pleasure to represent in Parliament the westernmost and southernmost portions of the British Isles, which, together, form part of a peninsula bounded on three sides by the sea. For many visitors the moors, the cliffs, the beaches and the sheltered coves of Cornwall are an annual source of comfort and delight. Even to those who have never been there, Land's End, the Lizard, St. Ives, Penzance, the Isles of Scilly, the Helford river and St. Michael's Mount, are famous names for sailing men and for travellers alike.
It may seem to the summer visitor that nature has been over-generous to Cornwall—not perhaps in its M.P., it may 416 be suggested by hon. Members opposite, but certainly generous in the inheritance which its people have received. But for seafaring men and for the Cornish people since the earliest times it has been a treacherous coastline. Even today, with the Longships lighthouse and the Wolf, with modern charts and aids, and with five voluntary lifeboat stations, shipping disasters still occur. The most recent was the notorious "Torrey Canyon" disaster on the Seven Stones.
It is hard to believe that this peninsula of Land's End was once among the richest and most heavily populated parts of Europe. From its shores the first real trading in these islands took place with the Phoenicians who came to West Cornwall in search of tin. It is for that reason, and because of the hazardous coast which lies at the crossroads of several seas, that some of the earliest wrecks, possibly from the Phoenicians, including the Armada, and Sir Cloudsley Shovell's flagship, the "Association", are situated off my constituency.
For centuries the practice of wrecking was an honourable and an essential Cornish profession. I say "essential", because it did something to eke out a subsistence living with tin mining, fishing and farming. In 1724, Daniel Defoe, in his "Tour of Cornwall", described my constituents' forebears in a rather uncomplimentary way as being a fierce and a ravenous people. It has all changed. Today, peace and harmony prevail. My constituents are law-abiding and conservative to the man. It is now possible for the Member for St. Ives to seek leave to introduce a Bill to restrain the wrecking of ancient ships without being lynched in his constituency on his return.
My attention was first drawn to the unsatisfactory nature of the present law following the discovery of the "Association" off the Isles of Scilly by some naval divers in 1967. I have no time today to describe that incident, but it led to considerable damage to a famous archeological wreck. Nor do I have time now to go into the inadequate law, which stems from the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894. Suffice it to say that what is required is a system of scheduling for ancient wrecks similar to the scheduling we now have for historic buildings, which would enable ancient ships of prime interest to scholars, historians and archæologists to be explored, 417 protected, and excavated in an orderly and systematic way. Other countries have such legislation. We should have it, too.
If the House gives me leave to introduce the Bill, but by a strange mischance no time is found for its Second Reading, I intend to table Amendments, which are now being drafted by counsel, to the Merchant Shipping Bill, which is shortly to come before the House for its Report stage. I naturally hope that the Government will support my Amendments to that Bill—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman must talk about his own Bill, not about Amendments to another Bill.

§ Mr. Nott
In conclusion, the Bill may seem to be unimportant, but there are people, including politicians, who have a sense of history and those that do not. I do not know that I find it easy to define what I mean by a "sense of history", but I certainly recognise it in a man and in a politician.
What is unique in West Cornwall is that even the humblest Cornishman has roots in his county stretching back for centuries. I should like to feel that by introducing this Bill to amend a small section of the law something could be achieved to preserve some relics of our island history, some traditions of my constituency, and some archeological remains of our and other nations' great seafaring past.