King John's Crown Jewels

The Claim

The English crown jewels are lost beneath the waves off the coast of East Anglia

King John of England was the ruling monarch from 1199 until he died from dysentery in 1216. He is considered one of the worst kings England has ever had, managing to completely ruin the empire left to him by his father, being the cause of 2 rebellions, of which he lost both, and on top of that, he lost the English crown jewels.

Being a terrible ruler was the cause of the first rebellion, which saw a number of barons and landowners take up arms against him. When he lost, he was allowed to remain as king as long as he signed the document known as “Magna Carta,” which gave more rights to the barons and their people.

However, since he was such a bad ruler, he continued to anger people, and a second rebellion started, which ended with King John dying of dysentery while on the run.

But as for him losing the crown jewels, this happened on the 12th of October 1216 when he attempted to cross a large estuary in the region of East Anglia called “the wash”. It is located where Norfolk meets Lincolnshire on the east coast of England and covers an area of over 60,000 acres.

According to surviving records, King John was travelling from Spalding in Lincolnshire to Bishop’s Lynn in Norfolk but became ill on route. He decided to take the faster route back along the roads. He ordered his baggage caravan, which included the jewels, to cross the mouth of the Wellstream river, which is easily crossable at low tide.

However, the heavier wagons were not able to make it before the tide turned, and they had to be abandoned, being swept away by the sea, and the cargo was lost in the mud.

The location of the accident is thought to be at the mouth of where the River Nene meets the sea, just past Sutton Bridge. The river was renamed in the 17th century from its original Wellstream name due to another river redirecting into it.

So the crown jewels are in the mud? Could that be true?

There are other stories as to what happened to the jewels, such as they were left elsewhere, and their loss was arranged as part of an insurance claim. But stories such as this don’t have any proof, but then again, neither does them being lost in the mud.

The story does seem to be possible though, as that route was used frequently for travel, as it was the shortest path between the 2 counties of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, and it floods every day with the tide.

The thick mud would swallow up anything resting on it in a single tide’s worth of movement, and with the scale of the area, it would be impossible to find anything without a metal detector.

So why hasn’t anyone found it yet?

The site has attracted hundreds of people over the years, hoping to find something, but so far, no one has found a single piece of the caravan. Any wood and organic matter would long have turned into nothing, as would have any iron works on chests and wagons, but any treasure should still be out there.

Gold and silver don’t rust and are quite heavy, and after sinking far enough into the mud to avoid any contact with the air, they should last forever. This is why some people question the existence of the jewels in the area called “the wash”, but then again, they still haven’t surfaced elsewhere, and the story is entirely possible, so perhaps people just haven’t been lucky enough to try the right spot yet.