Divers Find Ruins of English Town Swallowed by the Sea 700 Years Ago

Volunteer divers in the UK have discovered around 25 man-made objects at the site of Shipden, a town submerged seven centuries ago, Jam Press reports.

Working with a local historian, the divers photographed medieval flint structures that survive underwater. Among the finds were caissons - large stone or wooden constructions used as foundations or barriers in water - possibly part of efforts to hold back the advancing sea.

Shipden was once a thriving medieval settlement on the north Norfolk coast before the North Sea consumed it entirely in the 14th century. Its fate spawned legends, the most famous being that the tower of St Peter's church survived on a rock known as Church Rock, supposedly visible at low tide, with its bells said to ring in storms as a warning to sailors.

In 1888, the pleasure steamer Victoria struck the submerged rock and became stuck. Passengers were rescued, but the vessel could not be freed, and the wreck and rock were later blown up to clear the hazard.

Modern underwater surveys suggest Church Rock was probably not a church at all, but part of medieval sea defences - casting doubt on the old legend.