A wooden cross with various items attached to it, stands as a Memorial to the shipwreck of the Sea Venture, which was carrying colonists from England to Virginia until it struck the reefs that are visible from here and sank. Everyone was rescued.
The wooden cross was chosen because the shipwrecked passengers fashioned a cross out of wood and claimed the land they were on for British King John.
A replica wooden cross made of Bermudian Red Cedar is placed in a smooth concrete plinth with six plaques affixed on it. The larger plaque contains a general telling of the story. The smnaller plaque underneath gives details of the Sea Venture herself.
The other four plaques are each dedicated to one category of survivors, with a list of names on each: Virginia Company Officers, Adventurers, Colonists, and Mariners.
This monument also commemorates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Bermuda.
From the Bermuda attractions website: (
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"Sea Venture Monument, Bermuda
In 1609, Sir George Somers and his men landed in Bermuda when their ship Sea Venture got wrecked at a reef close to St. George. 400 years after the death of George Somers, a monument dedicated to the survivors of Sea Venture has been erected in St. George Bermuda. Dr. George Cook, a well known historian of Bermuda mentioned that this monument marks a fitting end to Bermuda's 400 anniversary celebration.
The monument is a nine-foot wooden cross. It is a recreation of the original cross that was made by the survivors to claim the island for England. The wood from the original cross has been salvaged to build the new monument. It is decorated with coins of King James I of England for who the claim for Bermuda was made.
Both the original and the new cross also have names of King James I engraved in English as well as in Latin. Additionally, the new cross has names of the survivors of the wrecked ship Sea Venture.
It is estimated that there were some 150 survivors. However, name of some 50 are confirmed and are engraved in the monument.
The monument is placed at a high point near Barry Road at St. Georges. The location is significant because there are two important points that can be seen from here:
1. The reefs location where the Sea Venture had struck and got wrecked;
2. The Gates Bay area that survivors had used to actually land on the island and started the British settlement in Bermuda for the first time.
And from the same website here: (
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Sea Venture
Sunk in July 1609
This ship Sea Venture had actually started the history of Bermuda and brought in the first settlers in the island. They were all originally headed for another English colony, but were forced to land in Bermuda due to a severe storm. Here is the story of Sea Venture:
In July 1609, Sir George Somers had started with a fleet of 9 ships from Plymouth (England) towards the new English colony Jamestown in Virginia. He was carrying settlers and food supplies for the new English colony. As a chief commander, he was aboard the lead ship (or the flagship) called the Sea Venture. There were 150 sailors and settlers aboard the vessels, and a dog. The fleet was caught in a severe storm. The sailors were somehow able to spot the east-end reefs of Bermuda (near St. George) and were able to steer the ship towards the rocks. The ship got wrecked on the reefs. But luckily all the men on board were saved including the dog :-)
The survivors later built two new ships - The Deliverance and The Patience. The Deliverance was constructed primarily out the materials stripped from the Sea Venture itself. After having constructed the two new vessels, all of them set sail again for Jamestown. Nearly 350 years after the Sea Venture got wrecked, Edmund Downing set out to find the Sea Ventures remains in 1958. He found a wreck in 30 feet of water.
he Smithsonian's, Mendel Peterson and the legendary Bermuda diver Teddy Tucker were called to verify the site. They unearthed a stone jug, a clay pipe, and a vase and confirmed that they belonged to the period when the ship was sunk. They also took timber measurements and concluded that this was indeed the vessel that had brought Bermuda's first colonists.
And with these colonists, the history of Bermuda started that traces back to the year 1609."
For a list of the passengers confirmed to be on the Sea Venture, see here: (
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