Single finds

These finds can range from large objects such as cannons to fragments of pottery. They may mark the site of an undiscovered shipwreck, or they may have been lost, or been thrown over the side of a ship. In some cases they may have been lost on land, but now lie underwater owing to the rise in sea level over the past centuries.

• A cannon from the sea 'off Purbeck'

  A small cannon discovered by a diver in the 1970's. Despite its poor condition it has proved to be of considerable interest.

• An Elephant Tusk from the sea off West Bay

  Divers expect to find shipwrecks, but the remains of an elephant are much less common, though the discovery of a tusk off Dorset illustrates a curious aspect of the history of the county.

• Mysterious stone anchors or weights from Dorset

  Several years ago three stone weights were recovered by a trawler about a mile off West Bay in Dorset. All three stones have a groove round the middle, presumably to take a rope, and are of a similar size (500 X 350 X 200 mm) and weight (78 kg).

• Roman coin from the sea off Lulworth Cove

  The discovery of two Roman coins off the Dorset coast may point the way to a previously unrecorded Roman shipwreck.