Title: |
An Archaeological Investigation of Crashed Aircraft, Spitfire P7533, Birkenhead Park, Wirral, Merseyside. |
Series: |
Museum of Liverpool Archaeology unpublished report series
|
Downloads: |
liverpoo1-205870_1.pdf (8 MB)
:
|
Download
|
|
Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
|
DOI |
|
Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
|
Abstract: |
The site lies in the south-eastern corner of Birkenhead Park in an area of level grassland. The project aimed to recover the remains of a Spitfire which was known to have crashed in the area during World War II. The plane crashed in Birkenhead Park on 14th October 1942 in the Lower Park, in an area known as the Night Pasture adjacent to Park Drive the internal 'carriage drive' within the park. The only written record of the crash obtained to date is the Ministry of Defence record card stating that the engine was not recovered from an approximate depth of 20-25 feet, however, there had also been a number of eye witnesses present at the time of impact (D. Darroch, 06/10/2007 pers. comm.), one of whom was present at the excavation. Metal detecting with UXB equipment had been carried out in December 2005 by a member of Warplane Wreck Investigation Group in an attempt to locate below surface ferrous remains with further investigations taking place using a magnetometer in 2007. Both geophysical investigations failed in their attempt to locate the crash site location. Prior to the commencement of the watching brief, metal detecting with UXB equipment was once again carried out by a member of WWIG with the hope of locating the remains more accurately. The engine and other parts of the fuselage were successfully located and excavated from Trench I. The remains consisted of a heavily fragmented and compacted deposit of aircraft parts, including the engine block, with no structural integrity suggesting that the aircraft crashed at a steep trajectory. No other archaeological deposits were present. |
Author: |
H A Jones
|
Publisher: |
National Museums Liverpool
|
Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Please note: this record has been validated by-proxy by Historic England.
|
Year of Publication: |
2007
|
Locations: |
Site: |
Birkenhead Park |
County: |
Merseyside |
District: |
Wirral |
Parish: |
BIRKENHEAD |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 331162, 388806 (Easting, Northing)
|
|
Subjects / Periods: |
|
Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
liverpoo1-205870 |
OBIB: |
Final report |
|
Note: |
Digital - WORD document
|
Source: |
|
Relations: |
|
Created Date: |
01 Feb 2018 |