A WHEEL from the gun carriage of a 17th century shipwreck off the coast of Southend has been recovered in pristine condition.

Leigh fishmonger and diver Steve Ellis recovered the wheel from the wreck of the London, which sank about a mile off Southend Pier in 1665, in a private dive on Sunday and said he was determined to bring the other wheel up this weekend.

Mr Ellis, from Mattacks, in Elm Road, discovered the gun carriage, thought to be the only preserved specimen from the period, earlier this year.

It was recovered and brought back to Leigh last week.

He will store the wheels before sending them to York, where the rest of the carriage is currently being preserved.

He said: “Last week, when we raised the gun carriage with Historic England and Cotswold Archaeology, we left two wheels down there, so thought we would try to get them up to make it complete.

“Wemanaged to get one up on Sunday and we’re working on the other one this Sunday, but it’s well concreted in so it won’t be easy. Because they were the furthest in the mud, though, they’re both in really great condition because they’ve been sealed from oxygen and the elements.

But there’s still so much down there for us to bring up. It could go on for years.”

The gun carriage, one of about 75 for the London’s bronze cannons, was raised from the Thames to national media interest last week and brought ashore at Old Leigh.

The dive and excavation was funded by Historic England.

Although this funding has now ended, Mr Ellis and his team of about six divers have a private licence to excavate the wreck.

The London, built for Oliver Cromwell’s navy in the 1650s, carried the future James II back to England from the Netherlands in 1660. Another vessel in the fleet carried his brother, Charles II.

The London was en route to join the rest of the fleet at the beginning of the Second Anglo- Dutch War in March 1665 when its gunpowder magazine exploded, killing more than 300 men and women on board.