British Ship 'Thames' Unearthed 160 Years After Grounding

You can see the mouth of the Ashley River here, on the outskirts of Christchurch. And it's right around here that a British ship, the Thames, was unearthed after running aground 160 years ago.

The Thames was a trading ship, built in 1826. It ended up here in 1865 while it was delivering telegraph poles to north Canterbury.

The discovery of the ship actually started in 2023. The remains were first flagged by a park ranger from the Canterbury Regional Council. Then, a Harbourmaster team identified it as a coastal hazard.

After that, Canterbury Heritage Consultants were brought in to identify the ship. The principal archaeologist, Nick Cable, said that the style of the timber and the copper sheathing were important clues. Samples were taken, and they confirmed the timber was English oak and elm. Those are classic British shipbuilding materials, and that helped confirm the wreck was indeed the Thames.