Essex Record Office: The loss of The London, 1665

Newly opened at Southend Central Museum, 'The London Shipwreck: Her Final Voyage' presents never-before-seen finds from the wreck of the London, a warship that sank off the Southend coast in 1665.

Built between 1654 to 1656, the London was a 64-gun warship that served during the Anglo-Spanish war and later transported the Duke of York (future King James VII and II) during the restoration of the monarchy.

In 1665, the ship tragically exploded in the Thames Estuary, killing around 300 people, a disaster recorded by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The exhibition features an exceptionally rare 17th-century gun carriage, navigational tools, and organic materials such as leather book covers, all painstakingly analysed and conserved through research commissioned by Historic England.

Jools McCusker Maxwell is the Curator of Archaeology for Southend Museums. Her main research interests include landscape archaeology and Neolithic flint mining. She has recently curated an exhibition about the London, which is on at Southend Central Museum until the 31st of May 2026.