The Demetrious the day after she came ashore

Wrecks have a facination for most people and Prawle Point is the graveyard of many vessels aver the last two hundered years. Remains of the most recent - the 9700 ton cargo ship Demetrios - can still be seen. Originally a Chinese ship, the Demetrios had left Dunkirk in december 1992 and was being towed by a Belgian tug to a Turkish scrap-yard.

In storm force 10 winds and 16 miles south of Start Point she broke her tow and drifted for five hours before being dashed in two on the rocks 300ft below the lookout at Prawle point. Luckily there was no-one aboard so there were no casualties.

The bow of the Demetrious soon after she came ashore

Village folk tell of the horrendous noise as she met her dramatic end that dark night. Next day, hoardes of sight-seers trekked

across the fields to see the wreck, some even clambering down the steep hillside at low tide to climb aboard and do some traditional wrecking. Over the next weeks more than 10,000 people arrived in East Prawle as news of the wreck got out.

The village had to be sealed off and farmers opened up their fields to accommodate the hundereds of cars.

The stern of the Demetrious

Coastguards operating from the look-out have always played a vital role at such times with many lives saved. Happily sailing is much safer these days but past records go to show how dangerous is the sea around Prawle Point and therefore a very good reason for keeping a regular look-out.

What is left today