The Crouch estuary could gain a new museum if Rochford residents show enough interest in the wreck of the Beagle.

Scientists are convinced the rotting hull of Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle - has been found in an inlet of the Roach at Paglesham.

The world-famous vessel - the Admiralty survey ship on which naturalist Darwin explored the world in the 1830s and on which he formulated his theories of evolution and natural selection - is believed to have been abandoned there after shipbreakers bought her for £525 from the Coastguard service in the 1870s to recycle her timbers, windows and doors.

Now the object of universal fascination, the wreck is to be tested for pollen or marine organisms which will show where in the world it has travelled.

Meanwhile Essex County Council's heritage conservation branch is to lease the area of the river where the hull lies to protect the site.

And the Burnham-based Crouch and Roach Estuary Project officer wants to know if local residents would welcome a Darwin and HMS Beagle Heritage Centre at Paglesham.

Published Thursday August 19, 2004

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