An anchor thought to be from a shipwreck carrying a billion pounds of treasure has been found off Cornwall ‘There will be people going after the treasure’

A scuba-diving treasure hunter said he now fears a “dangerous” gold rush after what is thought to be the anchor of the most valuable British shipwreck in history was found off the coast of Cornwall.

The anchor is believed to be that of the Merchant Royal, which sank some 400 years-ago while carrying 100,000 pounds of gold and 400 bars of Mexican silver – thought to be worth more than £1bn today.

It was found just 20 miles south of Land’s End, Cornwall, and is expected to lure divers to the area in a bid to find any riches that might be lurking at the bottom of the sea.

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Treasure trove of gold and silver

But Mark Milburn, who runs Atlantic Scuba and regularly visits shipwrecks around the Cornish coast, said the location was so treacherous that explorers would be risking their lives by attempting to reach it.

Mr Milburn, from Mabe Burnthouse, Cornwall, conceded that the anchor matches the one from the Merchant Royal, but said adventurers would require specialist equipment and expertise to dive the 300ft site.

“There will be people going after the treasure,” said the 55-year-old.

“My main concern will be people taking it and not telling anyone. It’s a well-known legend, people know that it’s still out there in deep water.

“Everyone will be after it, won’t they? It was an old wooden ship and the timber gets eaten away and only iron and metal bits will be left.

“All that will be on the seabed is an anchor, cannons and treasure – so long as no one has taken it already.”

Treacherous seas

The Merchant Royal, a 17th-century English galleon, was known as “the El Dorado of the seas”, and traded with Spanish colonies between 1637 to 1640.

As well as its golden and silver, the vessel sank while carrying nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins – making it one of the most valuable wrecks of all time.

Added Mr Milburn: “I know there are lots of anchors that look just like that one – it’s from a big wooden ship.

“It’s an admiralty patterned long shank anchor, it’s the right type for the Merchant Royal.

“Any find like this is exciting, we know the ship was carrying millions of pounds worth of treasure, it would be worth billions in today’s money.

“The spot where it was found is about 300ft deep – there are very few people that are qualified to dive that deep.

“I’ll be going out there to have a look, but we’ve got to wait for the right conditions and because the conditions are so treacherous, the window is very narrow.

“The site is exposed and we need the tide to be right and a weekend with no wind. Because of the depth, you don’t get long to look for it.

“It’s dangerous diving. It takes a lot of equipment and most divers know that – you need to be an experienced technical diver.”

Fishing vessel hauled the anchor up

The site is within British waters so the find will have to be reported to the Receiver of Wreck, an official body that administers law dealing with salvage rights in the UK.

Despite this, Mr Milburn said that whomever brings up the treasure could still end up keeping it, though a licence is required.

The anchor pulled up over the weekend was found by crew aboard a fishing vessel called the Spirited Lady.

Mr Milburn is now working with the skipper to find a place to store the anchor in order to stop it decomposing further.

He wants to store it in freshwater to slow the ageing process so he can study the anchor in an effort to determine its exact age.

The scuba diver added: “The guy who found it was fishing and he brought it up because he had it in his net.

“He’s been talking with me about where he could put it, I happen to have a friend who has a flooded quarry – that’s likely to be where it ends up.

“When it gets there I will go and get a better look at it, it’s a desalinated quarry – the anchor needs to be preserved.

“It is being arranged at the minute. Currently it will be rusting somewhere, we need to move it as soon as we can.”