The Protection of Wrecks (Designation) (England) Order 2016

Made: 27th June 2016

Laid before Parliament: 30th June 2016

Coming into force: 21st July 2016

In accordance with section 1(4) of that Act, the Secretary of State has consulted such persons as he considers appropriate having regard to the purposes of this Order.

Citation and commencement

1

This Order may be cited as the Protection of Wrecks (Designation) (England) Order 2016 and comes into force on 21st July 2016.

Identification of sites and designation of restricted areas

2

• (1) This Order is made in respect of three sites where a vessel or vessels lie, or are supposed to lie, wrecked on or in the sea bed.

• (2) The sites are listed in the first column of the Schedule and the position of each site is given in the corresponding entry in the second column of the Schedule[^f00002].

• (3) For each site so listed, the area within the distance specified in the corresponding entry in the third column of the Schedule is designated as a restricted area.

• (4) A restricted area designated under paragraph (3) does not include any part of that area which is above high water mark of ordinary spring tides.

Revocation

3

The Protection of Wrecks (Designation No. 2) Order 1974[^f00003] is revoked.

SCHEDULE — SITES OF WRECKS

Signed

David Evennett — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department for Culture, Media and Sport — 27th June 2016

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order designates the areas within 50 metres of the sites of two wrecks in the English Channel and the area within 85 metres of the site of two wrecks in the River Hamble as restricted areas for the purposes of the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.

These areas are believed to be the wreck sites of: the vessel “HMS A3” lying in the English Channel near Portland Bill, Dorset; the vessel “SM U-8” lying in the English Channel to the west of the southern end of the Varne Sandbank, off Folkestone, Kent; and the vessels “Grace Dieu” and “Holigost” lying in the River Hamble, Hampshire. The Secretary of State is satisfied that these sites ought to be protected from unauthorised interference on account of the vessels’ historical and archaeological importance.

Under section 1(3) of that Act, it is a criminal offence for a person to engage in certain activities in a restricted area, except under the authority of a licence issued by the Secretary of State.

The area around the wreck site of the Grace Dieu was previously designated as a restricted area under the Protection of Wrecks (Designation No. 2) Order 1974. This Order adjusts the position of the restricted area and extends its radius to 85 metres so that it now also includes the wreck site of the Holigost and revokes the 1974 Order.

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no significant impact is foreseen on the private, voluntary or public sectors.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1973 c.33.

[^f00002]: The positions of the sites identified in the Schedule are defined by co-ordinates of latitude and longitude according to the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84), as revised in 2004.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1974/56.