Scotland
Sanday, Orkney
Dune beach, Earl of Chatham wreck bared Feb 2024
Tidal foreshore Source-confirmed findsRestricted
What you could find
Reported finds from this shoreline.
Wreck timber
Nails and fittings
Sea glassAlso reported: whale bone.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: NPS photo (Public domain), North Lincolnshire Museum, Martin Foreman, (CC BY 2.0), Moximox (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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Why this spot
About 270 wrecks recorded on Sanday since the 1400s; HMS Hind (1749) later the whaler Earl of Chatham capsized here 1788.
Smithsonian (2025): a February 2024 winter storm exposed 12 tons of oak timbers in the dunes, excavated by islanders and now in a freshwater tank at Sanday Heritage CentreView source →
Before you go
Hazards noted for this site.
RemoteExposed, dune collapse, ferry-dependent
Keep exploring nearby
More spots in this area.