Discovery of Norfolk’s ‘Mary Rose’, The Wreck of Gloucester 1682

On May 6, 1682 a royal ship carrying James Stuart, Duke of York and heir to the throne ran aground on a sandbank off the Norfolk coast.
It was discovered in 2007 by Norfolk divers brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell and their friend, retired ex-Royal Navy submariner and diver James Little. The ship’s identity was confirmed in 2012, and its discovery was made public in June 2022.

Julian Barnwell was the managing director of the award-winning Barnwell Print Ltd, the oldest family-owned print business in the UK until 2024. He is an experienced professional diver, with qualifications including BSAC Advanced Diver (1996), BSAC Advanced Nitrox Diver (2000), NAS (Nautical Archaeology Society) Part I Certificate in Foreshore & Underwater Archaeology (2012), and HSE Professional Scuba Diver (2019). With Lincoln Barnwell and James ‘Tiny’ Little, he discovered the Gloucester wreck in 2007. In 2021 he became Honorary Research Fellow at the University of East Anglia and in 2024 he was awarded Freedom of the City of London in recognition for his work on the Gloucester.