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The Bronze Bell Shipwreck
Originally posted on October 2, 2018.
The Bronze Bell (or Tal-y-Bont) wreck lies to the south of the Sarn Badrig Reef (St. Patrick’s Causeway) between Barmouth and Harlech in Cardigan Bay. The wreck was first discovered in 1978 and is named after the bell that was found on the site bearing the date 1677. Along with cannons and anchors on the site were found 43 blocks of Italian Carrara marble. These were possibly destined for the Christopher Wren designed rebuilding of St Paul’s Cathedral, following the Great Fire of London in 1666.
We climbed all 528 St Paul’s steps twice during our August 2018 visit!
The Bronze Bell shipwreck exhibition is housed in Barmouth’s oldest building, Tŷ Gwyn (see No 7 off Heritage Trail stops and Tŷ Gwyn history), near to Barmouth harbour. It’s not always open but deserves a visit if it is. The volunteer staff are happy to chat and usually very knowledgeable about the wreck and the local area.
More information can be found in this BBC article or on the MADU site. A book by Tom Bennett is available locally or alternatively on Amazon. Channel 4 produced an episode on the wreck in 2004 in their series Wreck Detectives (Series 2 Episode 2); this is available for viewing in the museum.
I also attach another Tom Bennett piece of interest Bronze_Bell_Report. And for a wider look at aspects of the local seascape including a map of Sarn Badrig on page 132 see ENG_LCA_SEA_Part8_SEA_21to25.
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Edit 25/1/24 – Coflein site record
I had a disaster with the website which got sickly with a virus and was deleted by my hosting supplier. The photographs and documents originally included are not showing. When I get the time I will try and relocate them and update this post.
