Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell (1650-1707)

This bust of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is made from terracotta and dates from the late 16th or early 17th century. Born in Cockthorpe, Norfolk in 1650, Cloudesley took to the sea in his early teens and by 17 had already been made midshipman aboard the flagship of the future James II. In 1707 he was engaged in a battle to capture Toulon from the French; although it failed, he did manage to effectively remove their Mediterranean fleet from influence. Setting sail for home at the head of the fleet, the ships were on course for Plymouth but ran into furious westerly winds which drove them towards the rocks and reefs of the Scilly Isles. Shovell’s ship the ‘Association’ along with two others sank with only one survivor. The Admiral’s body was taken back to London and buried at Westminster Abbey. Around thirty years after this a lady on her death bed on the Scilly Isles is reported to have confessed to a priest that Sir Cloudesley had washed ashore alive and she had killed him for his emerald ring, this however has never been proven.