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Choose an option below to explore The Needles Voyager, showcasing the maritime culture of The Needles, Isle of Wight

Photos
Artefacts
Documents
Audio
Video
3D Models
People
Archive Links
'A Ship off The Needles', possibly SS Sultan by Wiber
          (active 19th Century) - Carisbrooke Castle Museum

'A Ship off The Needles', possibly SS Sultan by Wiber (active 19th Century) - Carisbrooke Castle Museum

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Intro
Details
Site
Career & Loss
Photos
Artefacts
Documents
Audio
Videos
3D
People
Archive Links
FAQ

The Needles Voyager

An Interactive Maritime Heritage Explorer developed in collaboration with

A project funded by

Unpath'd Waters is led by Historic England, and is part of the 'Towards a National Collection' programme. Towards a National Collection is a major five-year research and development programme that aims to underpin the creation of a unified virtual 'national collection', dissolving barriers between the different collections of the UK's museums, archives, libraries and galleries. The programme is funded through a £18.9 million investment by UK Research and Innovation's (UKRI) Strategic Priorities Fund and delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

Data within the viewer is based on research where we can reliably trust available sources. If you have information or images that could be added to the database please contact us on:

Learn more about the Unpah'd Waters project: https://unpathdwaters.org.uk/

Feature details

Click on a marker to see the feature stats.

'Plan showing the inboard profile for 'Leda' (1800), and
                  later for 'Shannon' (1806), 'Leonidas' (1807), 'Surprise'
                  (1812), 'Lacedemonian' (1812), 'Tenedos' (1812), 'Lively'
                  (1804), 'Trinocomalee' (1817), 'Amphitrite' (1816), and
                  'Briton' (1812), all 38-gun fifth Rate, Frigates.', 1796, Royal Museums Greenwich (1811-1880), Yale Center for
                British Art
'Plan showing the inboard profile for 'Leda' (1800), and later for 'Shannon' (1806), 'Leonidas' (1807), 'Surprise' (1812), 'Lacedemonian' (1812), 'Tenedos' (1812), 'Lively' (1804), 'Trinocomalee' (1817), 'Amphitrite' (1816), and 'Briton' (1812), all 38-gun fifth Rate, Frigates.', 1796, Royal Museums Greenwich (1811-1880), Yale Center for British Art

Site Description

Click on a map marker to learn more about the sites.

From 'The Isle of Wight - Beautiful Britian' by G.E.
              Mitton, 1911
From 'The Isle of Wight - Beautiful Britian', by G.E. Mitton, 1911

Career & Loss

Click on a map feature for an account of the vessel's loss.

'The Needles', Wilhelm Melby (1824-1882), Llyfrgell
              Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales
'The Needles'', Wilhelm Melby (1824-1882), Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

Site images

Click on a map feature to view related images and photographs.

'Steamship at the Needles, Isle of Wight, at Night', by
              William Stevens (b. 1817), Poole Museum
'Steamship at the Needles, Isle of Wight, at Night', by William Stevens (b. 1817), Poole Museum

Artefacts

Click on a map feature to view related artefacts.

'Off the Needles, Isle of Wight', by Edward William Cooke
              (1811-1880), Yale Center for British Art
'Off the Needles, Isle of Wight', by Edward William Cooke (1811-1880), Yale Center for British Art

Documents

Choose a wreck from the map to view related documents here.

'The Wreck of the Clarendon West Indiaman, At the moment she
              struck on the Shingles, in Chale Bay, Isle of Wight', From a sketch made on the spot by W Daniell, R.A, 1836, Royal
            Museums Greenwich
'The Wreck of the Clarendon West Indiaman, At the moment she struck on the Shingles, in Chale Bay, Isle of Wight', From a sketch made on the spot by W Daniell, R.A, 1836, Royal Museums Greenwich

Audio

Choose a wreck from the map to view related audio files here.

'The Needles', Edouard Hildebrandt (1818-68), 1847
'The Needles', by Edouard Hildebrandt, 1847

Videos

Click a wreck on the map to view related videos here.

'Ships Rounding The Needles', unknown artist, Carisbrooke
                Castle Museum
'Ships Rounding The Needles', unknown artist,
Carisbrooke Castle Museum

3D Content

Click a wreck on the map to view related 3D content here.

'The Union Castle Steamship 'Carnarvon Castle' off the Needles', Maurice Randall, 1926, National Maritime Museum
'The Union Castle Steamship 'Carnarvon Castle' off the Needles', Maurice Randall, 1926, National Maritime Museum"

People

Click on a map feature to view the people related to this site.

'Rowing Boat in the Solent Looking West with 'The Needles' and
                Hurst Castle', Wiber (active 19th C), Carisbrooke Castle Museum Rowing Boat in the Solent Looking West with 'The Needles' and Hurst Castle, Wiber (active 19th C), Carisbrooke Castle Museum

Help and FAQ

Why are only sites and features around The Needles, Isle of Wight, featured on the map?

The project study area covered this area of the coast, which included a 2.5 km search area based on The Needles. This is a particularly rich area of maritime finds and sites, including shipwrecks and historic structures that was selected as a good pilot study for testing data integration with the Unpath'd Waters aims of creating a national colection of maritime data at the regional and local scale.

Is the database that the viewer draws on still being added to or changed?

Yes, we are making further entries to the database and attaching more information, documents, links and images. These will appear in the viewer after each update throughout the life of the project and beyond.

How frequently will the database and viewer be updated?

We will be adding new information or making amendments to the database on an almost daily basis until 2024. Subsequent updates will continue to be published as the core database will continue to be maintained as part of wider MAT research.

Are you able to accept new information or photographs of Needles sites, wrecks and views that feature in the database/viewer?

Yes! If a site is within the search area then we are happy to add new information, photographs, video etc to the records. We cannot accept information or photographs for sites outside of this area, but they may be useful to other research and projects. We can only accept photographs which you are able to provide permission for use or are of an age that copyright is expired. To submit information, photographs etc then please email us on:

As a volunteer I found information on a vessel that isn't showing in the viewer, why?

Thanks to the amazing work of our volunteers who spent many hours researching the sites online we have been able to populate many fields in the database. Alongside the online research other volunteers were researching documents in The National Archives or other maritime archives, sometimes these sources provide different information than online sources. If we are not sure of the accuracy of an entry or feel it needs further work to double check then, for now, we have not included this in publicly available information.

I have spotted a mistake in the data, what should I do?

If you have found something that might be inaccurate then please do let us know! Please email us on:

If you can let us know the site, the field that you think needs changing and a reference to show your source that would be great. We will endeavour to make any updates in our monthly update routine.

How can I support the Maritime Archaeology Trust?

We are a charity and rely on the kind support of volunteers and donors. We also have a Friends of the Trust organisation - to find out more and to join please visit Friends of the Trust

Version: 1.0.2 September 2023