Porth Hellick
Dick's Carn or The Loaded Camel and the monument to Sir Cloudisley Shovel.
There are as many stories of his demise as versions of his name.
The fact of the matter from a letter upon exhumation confirms that he was not murdered, nor had his hands been mutilated.
A ring was missing, however, and a soldier had returned four rings whereupon he was rewarded with a pension by Lady Cloudisley.
It would appear that the poor man had perished at sea, and was washed ashore here, drowned.
22nd October 1707
A Fleet under Admiral Sir Clowdisley Shovel, consisting of
HMSs Association, Eagle, Romney, Firebrand, Lennox, Royal Anne, St George, Panther, Le Valeur and Phoenix.
They had left Gibraltar 27th September 1707.
Le Valeur, Lennox and Phoenix had left on a separate mission, to escort a merchant fleet.
Gales struck the fleet from many directions and they were sore pressed by winds, so that they were not truly aware of their position.
Association, Eagle, Romney, Firebrand, Lennox, St George, Royal Anne, Panther continued in confusion
With no warning at all Association struck the Gilstone Ledges, lost almost instantly with her crew of 650.
Eagle struck Tearing Edge, Firebrand struck Menglow and the Romney disappeared without trace.
St George struck Gilstone, but managed to escape with minor damage.
Le Valeur, Lennox and Phoenix had already struck the Western Rocks, and Phoenix found shelter off Tresco.
There were 26 survivors out of the full complements of 1,673 men,
though how many of the pressed crew had escaped in some form is not known.
This great and tragic loss echoed in the halls of the Admiralty for many years.
Raymond Forward
