223 pre-1900 North Devon and Lundy Shipwrecks (an index)
- from the late 1600s to 1899.
 
Extracted from "Shipwreck Index of the British Isles",
published by the Lloyds Registry of Shipping, 1995.
Precise details of all such wrecks can be found in this publication. The London Gazette provides more information concerning pre-1700 wrecks, but with very little detail.
 
The sortable table below provides simply key information about each identified vessel wrecked in this area, but, where a link is indicated, more detail relating to the story of specific vessels can be displayed by clicking on the vessel name. In some of these instances (mostly pre-1850 accounts), more names of people involved in the crisis are given.
 
PLEASE NOTE:

There were a number of wrecks that have not been identified over the years.
These are not included in this list.
 
In those cases where no Master/Captain name is give (i.e. 'unknown' is shown), those vessels were generally of the small variety - usually coastal transport craft with 2 or 3 crew.
 
There were four occasions of multiple sinkings at Clovelly on the same day. These are identified by the suffix *, **, *** and +.
 
The increased frequency of wrecks in the North Devon area brought about two additional lifeboat stations at Northam Burrows (1852) and Braunton Burrows (1848). Appledore, however, had already taken delivery of two lifeboats - in 1825 ('VOLUNTEER') and 1831 ('ASSISTANCE', the latter as a result of the loss of the sloop BETSEY - report below). The actions of lifeboats are frequently mentioned in the more detailed reports (where present, below). The reports clearly illustrate the extreme bravery of the lifeboatmen.

This table is sortable...(provided you have Javascript enabled)... Merely click on any one of the blue-lettered column headings you require, then wait a second or two for the table to be sorted and reappear. Click here for a map of the North Devon Coast.

Name of Vessel	Year Lost	DD MMM Lost	Approximate Place of Wreck	Master/Captain
A B	1807		Clovelly	unknown
A B	1871	20 Dec	Clovelly	unknown
A C L	1894	25 Jan	Morte Bay	Fournier, S.
ACTIVE	1896	19 May	Barnstaple Bay	Cole, H.
ADMIRAL	1868	23 Aug	Lundy Island	unknown
AFFO	1872	08 Dec	Hartland Point	Goman
ALARM	1874	07 Jan	Morte Point	unknown
ALARM	1877	12 Aug	Lundy Island	Watts, W.
ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES	1843	15 Jan	Northam Burrows	unknown
ALBION	1869	20 Mar	Lundy Island	unknown
ALERT	1861	08 Oct	Lundy Island	Williams
ALEXANDRA	1879	11 Dec	Hartland Point	unknown
ALEXANDRIA	1842	09 Sep	Hartland Point	unknown
ALICE	1898	25 Jul	Ilfracombe Harbour	Bruefore, J. R.
ALTIVO	1866	23 Feb	Bideford Bar	unknown
AMAZON	1863	18 Nov	Saunton Sands	Organ, J.
AMELIA	1850	05 Feb	Ilfracombe Harbour	Avery, Thomas
AMELIA	1854	21 Nov	Ilfracombe	unknown
AMORETTA	1744	05 Oct	Bideford	Revell
ANN	1825		Knap Head	unknown
ANN	1848	02 Feb	Lundy Island	Richards
ANN	1850	20 Jan	Mortehoe	James
ANN	1859	26 Oct	Morte Point	Dolmah, Y.
ANN	1878	03 Aug	Braunton L/h	Lemon, J.
ANN	1893	07 Jul	Baggy Point	Screech, W.
ANN & ELIZABETH	1874	01 Oct	Combe Martin	unknown
ANNE	1753	?? May	Hartland Point	unknown
ANNIE LAURIE	1896	22 Nov	Fremington Quay	Hocking, A.
ANT	1897	14 Jul	Lundy Island	unknown
ARAB	1879	21 Jul	Baggy Point	unknown
ARABELLA	1895	02 Oct	Ilfracombe Harbour	Camm, M.
ARCHELAUS	1849	07 Nov	Lundy Island	Boutelle
ARIEL	1853	30 Apr	Lundy Island	Warren
ARMS OF BRISTOL	1675	26 Mar	Ilfracombe	unknown
ASHDALE	1890	10 Sep	Lundy Island	Brown, J.
ASTERIAS	1870	21 May	Lundy Island	unknown
ATLANTA	1888	09 Jan	Bideford Bar	Gayett, J.
AURA	1890	19 Aug	Hartland Point	Anderson, J. E.
AURORE	1889	19 Oct	Morte Bay	Stephany, T.
AUSPICIOUS	1842	21 Oct	Hartland Point	Lovering
AUSPICIOUS	1892	28 May	Hartland Point	Tancock, A.
AVON	1855	15 May	Lundy Island	Moore, W.
AZTEC	1886	08 Dec	Clovelly	Remond, G.
BALLYDOON	1897	01 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
BEATRICE	1877	04 Nov	Foreland Point	Griffiths, J.
BEE	1821	02 Oct	Barnstaple Bay	unknown
BELINDA	1869	06 Apr	Lundy Island	Randell, Joseph
BEN McCREE	1862	03 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
BESSIE	1856	12 Sep	Hartland Point	unknown
BETSEY	1831	03 Mar	Bideford Bar	Luke, Charles
BEULAH	1764	12 Nov	Bideford	Green
BIDEFORD	1848	29 Feb	Bideford Bar	Major
BON SUCCESS	1780	11 Dec	Ilfracombe	Madara, Jocquim L.
BOSCOPPA	1888	08 Jan	Bideford Bar	Youngson, D.
BOSPHORUS	1854	18 Oct	Combe Martin	Gunn, G.
BOSWEDEN	1886	15 Oct	Lundy Island	Boyns, R.
BRENDA	1871	14 Feb	Lundy Island	unknown
BRISK	1894	07 Aug	Bull Point	Screech, W.
BRITANNIA	1760	08 Feb	Northam Burrows	unknown
BRITISH TRIDENT	1873		Hartland Point	unknown
BROTHERS	1866	27 Nov	Lundy Island	Abbott, Thomas
BROTHERS	1871	21 Dec	Northam Sands	Thomas, D.
BURNSWARK	1882	13 Dec	Lundy Island	Luke, Wm. Henry
BUSY	1859	25 Oct	Lundy Island	unknown
CAESAREA	1888	08 Jun	Hartland Point	Blampied, J.
CAMBBONNE	1882	26 Nov	Lundy Island	Sanzerean, A.
CAMBRIA	1891	18 Jan	Lynmouth	Union, John
CANADA	1895	02 Oct	Woody Bay	Dawson, J.
CAPE CLEAR	1890	30 Jan	Hartland Point	Kiddie, D.
CARAVAN	1810	25 Dec	Bideford Bar	unknown
CAROLINE	1868	19 Feb	Lundy Island	King, Wm. T.
CARRICK	1896	06 Dec	Northam Burrows	Knowlton, B. M.
CATHERINE	1890	19 Dec	Baggy Point	Carne, M.
CATHERINE HENDRY	1898	25 Mar	Lundy Island	Jones, E.
CHALCIOPE	1884	07 Dec	Saunton Sands	Whiteside, James
CHANCE	1816	23 Dec	Baggy Point	Bolgar
CHANTICLEER	1869	02 Sep	Morte Point	Purdy, T.
CHARLES	1757	25 Nov	Barnstaple Bay	Gegan
CHARLES	1858	13 Mar	Lundy Island	unknown
CHARLOTTE	1796	19 Feb	Appledore	Smeaton
CHARLOTTE	1895	02 Oct	Barnstaple Bay	Butler, J.
CHARLOTTE ANN	1889	11 Jan	Braunton L/h	Hare, J.
CHEPSTOW	1816	31 Dec	Morte Point	Pearce
CHESAPEAKE	1862	58 Jun	Lundy Island	unknown
CHOICE	1856	20 Apr	Lundy Island	Williams
CHOICE FRUIT	1886		Clovelly***	unknown
CITY OF GLOUCESTER	1888	05 Jun	Lundy Island	Gunning, J.
CLAIRE	1865	27 Oct	Ilfracombe	unknown
CLARA	1859	26 Oct	Morte Point	unknown
CLEVELAND	1771	01 Feb	Appledore	Hammett
CLIFTON	1858	12 Mar	Bideford Bar	unknown
CLIPPER	1895		Hartland Quay	unknown
COILA	1895	14 May	Lundy Island	Court, A.
COLUMBO	1867	27 Oct	Lundy Island	unknown
COMMERCE	1841	22 Jan	Bideford	unknown
COMPACT	1833		Ilfracombe	unknown
CONCORD	1810	20 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
CONCORD	1818	06 Jan	Ilfracombe Harbour	Crosscombe
CONCORDIA	1796	02 Feb	Ilfracombe Harbour	Baysmith
CONSTANCE	1882		Clovelly	unknown
CORNELIA	1868		Knap Head	unknown
CORNIST	1872	10 Oct	Morte Point	Iram, G.
CORNWALL	1871	19 Mar	Lundy Island	Jones, Jenkin
COTTAGER	1868	15 Nov	Hartland Point	Pill, Thomas
COUNTESS OF BECTIVE	1850	29 Apr	Lundy Island	Davies
CRESCENT	1842	27 Jun	Lundy Island	Paine, J.
CRUISER	1897	27 Oct	Combe Martin	Irwin, C.
CUMGWILLY	1762	02 Feb	Appledore	Sherbon
DANIEL	1829	11 Dec	Bideford Bar	unknown
DART	1869	13 Sep	Bull Point	unknown
DASHER	1850	23 Mar	Bideford Bar	Jennings, H.
DAVID & MARTHA	1864	17 Nov	Bideford Bar	unknown
DELABOLE	1833	20 Feb	Saunton Sands	unknown
DELABOLE	1880	15 Sep	Clovelly	Holten, J.
DEUX FRERES	1885	19 Jun	Hartland Quay	Eruscat, E.
DIAMOND	1897	03 Mar	Lundy Island	Buley, H.
DIANA	1771	22 Oct	Barnstaple	Taylor
DIEPPE PACKET	1751	02/	Barnstaple Bay	Smith
DILIGENCE	1842	10 May	Hartland Point	unknown
DILIGENT	1859	01 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
DOLLY	1784	19 Aug	Hartland Point	Eastway
DRUMTOCHTY	1882	13 Dec	Lynmouth	Watson, W.
DULCE NOMBRE DE JESUS	1861	01 Jan	Morte Point	Ondarza
DYFED	1897	22 Jan	Lundy Island	Harwood, G.
EARL OF CHESTER	1891	22 Apr	Ilfracombe	Richards, W.
EARL OF JERSEY	1898	28 Nov	Lundy Island	Halbert, W.
EAST ANGLIAN	1868	14 Jan	Lundy Island	Demsey, Edward
ECLIPSE	1865	05 Apr	Hartland Quay	Jarvis, P.
EDITH	1877	10 Sep	Combe Martn Bay	Rees, J.
EDWARD	1880	16 Nov	Ilfracombe Pier	Clark, H.
EDWARD & ANN	1809		Hartland Quay	unknown
ELEANOR	1854	17 Feb	Ilfracombe	unknown
ELECTRIC	1888	08 May	Lundy Island	Thomas, R.
ELIZA	1852	14 Jan	Lundy Island	Tucker, James
ELIZA	1869	30 Dec	Lundy Island	Edwards, David
ELIZA	1870	09 Jan	Appledore	unknown
ELIZA	1873	27 Mar	Lundy Island	unknown
ELIZABETH	1833	17 Dec	Northam Burrows	unknown
ELIZABETH	1854	08 Dec	Ilfracombe	unknown
ELIZABETH	1857	25 Apr	Clovelly	Bellamy, J.
ELIZABETH	1860	26 Jan	Foreland Point	unknown
ELIZABETH	1890	07 Jul	Appledore	Gregory, T.
ELIZABETH MARY	1880		Lynmouth	unknown
ELLEN	1864	17 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
ELLEN DAWSON	1885	09 Sep	Bideford Bay	Riley, T.
ELLEN GWENLLIAN	1859	26 Oct	Appledore	Phillips
ELLEN WILLIAMS	1892	04 Jul	Braunton Sands	Lamley, C.
ELSIE	1898	01 Dec	Foreland Point	Goodman, T. P.
EMILE	1860	06 Feb	Foreland, North	unknown
EMILIANNE	1895	19 Mar	Morte Point	Nicolozo
EMMA JANE	1831	30 Oct	Morte Point	Richards, J. T.
EMPEROR	1893	21 Mar	Morte Point	Cam, O.
ENDEAVOUR	1816	11 Dec	Northam Burrows	Bruce
ENDEAVOUR	1890	19 Dec	Ilfracombe	Suggett, W.
ESCORT	1899	21 Apr	Lundy Island	Pine, J.
ESPERANDA	1895	15 Nov	Foreland Point	Sparkes, T.
ESTRELLA DE MAR	1811		Lundy Island	unknown
ETHEL	1877	06 Feb	Lundy Island	Reeves
ETHEL	1891	09 Feb	Lynmouth	Hocken, R. J.
EUZA JONES	1889	16 Dec	Lundy Island	Williams, T.
FAME	1822	07 Feb	Lundy Island	unknown
FAME	1866	14 Mar	Hartland Point	Buckingham
FANNY	1842	24 Jan	Bideford	Channon
FANNY	1874	05 Oct	Lundy Island	Guard, William
FARMERS ADVENTURE	1810	18 Dec	Bideford	unknown
FATFIELD	1891	22 Nov	Hartland Point	Moore, A. A.
FLEETHAM	1895	29 Aug	Appledore	Evans, R.
FLEURY	1881	23 Aug	Ilfracombe	Libarh
FLORENCE	1896		Longpeak	unknown
FLORENCE REYNOLDS	1843	02 Dec		unknown
FLORIDA	1880	23 Nov	Hartland Point	Whitley, C. E.
FLYING FISH	1884		Clovelly**	unknown
FORTUNATE	1896	26 Apr	Morte Point	Trembeth, N.
FRANCIS ANNE	1829	21 Mar	Lundy Island	Grandy, E.
FREDERICK	1857	04 Nov	Clovelly	unknown
FREDERICK II	1860	13 Nov	Hartland Point	unknown
FRIENDS	1809	15 Dec	Barnstaple	Leeworthy
FRIENDSHIP	1842	08 Sep	Croyde Bay	Holland
FRIENDSHIP	1843	07 Feb	Ilfracombe	unknown
FROLIC	1888	10 Jul	Lynmouth	Balsden, C.
GARLAND	1761	06 Oct	Ilfracombe	Powell
GAZELLE	1875		Hartland Point	unknown
GEM	1870	28 Oct	Clovelly	unknown
GEM	1890	18 Dec	Bideford	Jones, P. B.
GENERAL GORDON	1886	23 Mar	Hartland Point	Stone, C.
GEORGE	1760	19 Feb	Ilfracombe	Capps
GERTRUDE	1872	07 May	Lundy Island	unknown
GLENDORGAL	1881	10 Dec	Ilfracombe	unknown
GOOD INTENTION	1842	26 Jun	Bideford Bar	Brooks
GRATITUDE	1882	03 Jul	Barnstaple, R. Taw	Vicary, George
GRIMSBY	1897	13 Aug	Westward Ho	Kelly, T.
GWLADYS	1891	17 Dec	Hartland Point	Jones, E.
HAABET	1895	04 Oct	Croyde Bay	Aulie, O. O.
HANNAH	1850	05 Jan	Morte Bay	Letherall, James
HANNAH	1859	26 Oct	Morte Point	unknown
HANNAH	1897	03 Mar	Fremington Quay	Gregory, J.
HANNAH MORE	1866	10 Jan	Lundy Island	Haughton
HAWKE	1829		Barnstaple Bay	unknown
HELIGAN	1878	08 Nov	Lundy Island	unknown
HENRIETTA	1880	02 Oct	Combe Martin Bay	Hammett, M.
HENRY PATTERSON	1854	20 Oct	Barnstaple Bay	unknown
HERCULES	1796	01 Jan	Hartland Point	Wood
HERMINA	1869	30 Jan	Lundy Island	unknown
HERO	1889	08 Jun	Hartland Point	Lobb, F.
HEROINE	1878	24 Mar	Bideford Bar	Short, E.
HEROINE	1882	13 Dec	Lundy Island	unknown
HIGHGATE	1890	19 Feb	Lundy Island	Lewer, H. C.
HIRONDELLE	1885	20 Mar	Lundy Island	Cove, H. P.
HOCHE	1882	01 Jul	Hartland Point	Le Pietre, J. J.
HOPE	1855	31 May	Lundy Island	unknown
HOPE	1865	02 Sep	Saunton Sands	unknown
HOPE	1880	24 Nov	Braunton Sands	Vaggers, G. B.
HORNET	1884	27 Jan	Lundy Island	Tomun, J.
I O	1827	25 Apr	Lundy Island	de Gallis, J.
I'LL TRY	1859	26 Oct	Morte Point	unknown
ILEN	1860	24 Oct	Ilfracombe	unknown
I'LL TRY	1885	10 Sep	Ilfracombe	Batten, R.
INDUSTRY	1890	30 Jun	Braunton Sands	Hutchings, J.
INFANTA	1898	19 May	Lundy Island	Lesslie, J.
INVERSNAID	1886	16 Oct	Lundy Island	Dodds, J.
IONA II	1864	02 Jan	Lundy Island	unknown
IRIS	1859	17 Oct	Hartland Point	unknown
ISABELLA	1852	10 Feb	Hartland Point	unknown
ISABELLA	1886	16 Dec	Lynmouth	Goldsworthy, E. T.
ISLANDER	1891	19 Mar	Bull Point	Blampied, G.
ISMYR	1893	01 Dec	Lundy Island	Smith, F.
ITCHEN	1888	28 Aug	Hartland Point	unknown
JAMES	1862	19 Mar	Lundy Island	Chellew
JANE	1860	08 Jun	Lundy Island	unknown
JANE	1886		Clovelly***	unknown
JANE	1887	25 Nov	Ilfracombe	Lovering, R.
JANE & MARY	1880	27 Dec	Braunton Burrows	Guard, S.
JANIE MORCOM	1895	14 May	Foreland Point	Cocks, S.
JEANNIE ROBERT	1876	15 Jan	Lundy Island	unknown
JENNY	1797	27 Jan	Lundy Island	Buckle
JENNY JONES	1868	19 Feb	Hartland Quay	unknown
JEUNE ADELINE	1867	01 Dec	Bideford	Guiot
JIM	1870	28 Oct	Clovelly	unknown
JOHANNAH & MARY	1735	28 Nov	Bideford Bar	unknown
JOHN	1867		Knap Head	unknown
JOHN	1897	02 Mar	Bideford Bar	Eastman, F. W.
JOHN & CATHERINE	1864	18 Nov	Ilfracombe	unknown
JOHN LILLEY	1843	15 Jan	Saunton Sands	Townes
JONATHON WEIR	1884	23 Jan	Barnstaple Bay	Brown, John Thos.
JOSEPH & THOMAS	1899	07 Apr	Barnstaple Bay	unknown
JOSEPH F VOTSAM	1855	14 May	Lundy Island	unknown
JUANITA	1886	17 Oct	Lundy Island	unknown
JUBA	1770	12 Dec	Barnstaple Bay	Shazell, B.
JULIA	1868	01 Nov	Lundy Island	Steel
KATE	1895	05 Nov	Barnstaple Bay	Bartlett, W.H.
KELDHEAD	1873	28 Apr	Lundy Island	Davies, E.
KILOOLAH	1873		Knap Head	unknown
KITTY	1822	10 Apr	Barnstaple Bay	Wedgery
LA VENTURA	1796	19 Feb	Ilfracombe	Echandia
LAMB	1820	20 Jan	Lundy Island	unknown
LANISLEY	1895	03 Oct	Ilfracombe	Beckerleg, Barlow
LEDA	1872	28 Feb	Lundy Island	Tascon, A. M.
LEWIS CHARLES	1861	09 Feb	Lundy Island	unknown
LILIE	1882		Clovelly*	unknown
LITTLE RACER	1884	10 Feb	Lundy Island	Fishley, William
LOCHLIBO	1859	27 Feb	Hartland Point	Thomas, Owen
LOIRE	1856		Lundy Island	unknown
LONDON	1796	14 Oct	Ilfracombe	Robinson
LONDOS	1891	15 Nov	Hartland Quay	Fryer, R. W.
LOUISA	1850	18 Feb	Lundy Island	unknown
LUZIA & ANN	1783	04 Mar	Bideford Bar	de Mattos
LYDNEY TRADER	1875	13 Feb	Bideford Bar	unknown
LYMINGTON	1889	02 Feb	Ilfracombe	Blake, A. H.
LYN	1888	11 Jan	Ilfracombe	Ray, A.
MAGLAGARD	1783	28 Feb	Ilfracombe Harbour	Froome
MARCO POLO	1881	20 Dec	Lundy Island	Falvey, J.
MARGARET	1858		Hartland Point	unknown
MARGARET	1869	22 Apr	Lundy Island	Kendall, William
MARGARET QUAYLE	1863		Knap Head	unknown
MARGURIE	1896	04 Oct	Hartland Point	Methugan, J.
MARIA	1790	21 Dec	Appledore	Dennison
MARIA STELLA	1879		Hartland Point	unknown
MARIE	1757	19 Sep	Lundy Island	unknown
MARIE COLLIER	1895	09 Sep	Lundy Island	unknown
MARIE EMILIE	1886	18 Oct	Ilfracombe	Stribling, J.
MARINER	1842	19 Mar	Lundy Island	unknown
MARKET MAID	1854	04 Jul	Baggy Point	unknown
MARLBOROUGH	1859	26 Oct	Ilfracombe	Clark
MARQUIS	1854	03 Jan	Appledore	unknown
MARQUIS OF LORNE	1883	30 Jul	Bull Point	Crocombe, George
MARS	1860	03 Sep	Hartland Point	unknown
MARTHA	1743	02 Mar	Barnstaple Bay	Dennison
MARY	1826		Ilfracombe	unknown
MARY	1867	05 Jan	Bideford	unknown
MARY	1870	16 Dec	Lundy Island	unknown
MARY	1873	01 Mar	Foreland Point	unknown
MARY & ALICIA	1816	16 Jan	Braunton Sands	unknown