The Stirling Castle was a 70-gun 3rd-rate ship-of-the-line, built in Deptford in 1679, rebuilt at Chatham in 1699 and lost on the Goodwin Sands during the Great Storm of 1703. The ship is highly significant from an historical perspective because it was launched as part of the Thirty Ships building programme overseen by Samuel Pepys and Charles II. Following the discovery of the site in 1979 it has been subject to continued archaeological activity and has been designated under the 1973 Protection of Wrecks Act (PWA) since 1980. The wreck lies in a dynamic environment with the movement of sand causing the site to be covered and un-covered which has resulted in significant degradation, however, it is still an exceptional site being one of the best-preserved shipwrecks from the late 17th century in English waters. Numerous individuals, groups, Trusts and organisations have been involved in the investigation of the site over the past 40 years which has resulted in the recovery of a significant artefact assemblage, in addition to an extensive supporting archive recording the vessel structure and other in situ material. Work on the archive generated between 1979 - 2009, which is dispersed across a number of locations, has been funded by Historic England (previously English Heritage) and sought to summarise current understanding as an aid to long-term management and to encourage further research. The output of this work is a Monograph publication, and the deposited digital archive provides access to the archive database and artefact images created as part of the project.
