August
20
/ 2026
A royal ferry believed to have sunk with Charles I’s baggage and treasure nearly 400 years ago may finally have been located in the Firth of Forth. Burntisland Heritage Trust says underwater surveys, physical exploration, and a recovered timber sample have produced a “promising” wreck site about a mile (1.5 kilometers) from Burntisland. The ship’s identity - and the fate of its reported silver and gold - still await scientific confirmation. A Royal Ferry Lost in a Storm On 10 July 1633, the ferry known as the Blessing of Burntisland was travelling from Burntisland to Leith during Charles I’s Scottish coronation tour when rough weather struck. The king’s baggage was aboard the ferry, according to the Burntisland Heritage Trust’s original
