Dive trail proposed for Lundy Island

Wessex Archaeology is seeking feedback from the dive community regarding a proposed new dive trail off Lundy Island.

This new route would provide guided access to the protected wreck site of the Iona II, a fast iron paddle steamer built on the Clyde in 1863 during the American Civil War era.

wreck of a Confederate blockade runner

The Iona II was subsequently purchased for use as a Confederate blockade runner, before being lost while seeking shelter from a storm at Lundy on 2nd January 1864.

Now English Heritage has commissioned Wessex Archaeology (WA) to plan a diver trail on the site that would facilitate responsible and licensed access.

It aims to be fun and informative for visiting divers, as well as provide ongoing feedback on the condition of the wreck to English Heritage.

WA therefore has to plan to design and implement an interesting dive trail with the capacity for multilevel appreciation of the site, with some mechanism for monitoring of the wreck.

Supporting materials could cover a range of topics including ship design, the American Civil War, archaeology and ecology ensuring that there will be something to appeal to divers of all interests.

So this is where the UK dive community comes in. WA wants your opinions on the design and content of the trail, to ensure they can construct a trail as useful and enjoyable as possible.

The survey should only take 5 minutes to complete, and all entries received before 10th January 2014 go into a draw to win prizes of vouchers for books and diving equipment.

You can read more about the Iona II on Wessex Archaeology’s blog.