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Parts of a mystery ship have been found beneath a 19th Century pub in Jersey.

Archaeologists say the beams are "well preserved" and may lead to the vessel's identification.

Andy Davis, landlord of the Seymour Inn, says the "surprising" find was in keeping with the building's history as a traditional fisherman's pub.

Jersey Heritage says it plans to date the wood, and appeal to museums in the UK to find out more about the origins of the ship.

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Mr Davis said a section of the pub needed to be renovated after a recent flood, and the timbers were discovered nailed to the floorboards of one of the rooms.

"I'd never seen anything like it in my life, so I thought we should get in touch with [Jersey] heritage sharpish," he added.

Neil Mahrer, museum conservator for Jersey Heritage said: "They are presumably the ribs from what appears to be a 19th century ship.

"What's unusual is that I've never seen ones preserved that show the shape of it so well, so you can make out the original size of the ship."

He said further inquiries will be made into the exact age of the wood, in order to determine what kind of ship it was.

Mr Davis has kept some of the beams to "build into the walls of the pub", and hopes they will remind visitors of the shipbuilding yards which operated in the area when the pub was built.

Maritime historian Doug Ford said in 1860 Jersey was the "fourth largest ship building community in the British Isles."

He says cheap labour on the island between 1820-1870 made it one of Jersey's major industries at the time.

"I would suspect the carpenters who built ships also built houses," he said, adding local shipwrights may have used timber from wrecked, old or unfinished vessels.