A ship returning from Spain was caught in a violent storm and wrecked off the coast of Wales in 1583.
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ship → return → 1583
Among the objects recovered from the wreck was a brass combination lock that remained closed for more than four centuries.
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that → recover → centuries
Researchers have now solved its four-letter code without forcing it open, using advanced CT scanning technology to examine the delicate mechanism.
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Researchers → solve → mechanism
Cardiff University announced the discovery on November 4, 2026, following research conducted with Amgueddfa Cymru, also known as Museum Wales.
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University → announce → Wales
The researchers successfully identified the combination as ANCE and opened the lock without damaging it.
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researchers → identify → it
The discovery has helped solve a centuries-old puzzle, although researchers are still uncertain about what the lock originally protected and why its owner chose those four letters.
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owner → help → letters
A ship lost off the Welsh coast
The ship, named Ann Francis, was returning from Spain when it encountered a severe storm on December 28, 1583.
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it → lose → December
Blown off course, it eventually wrecked on Margam Beach, near Port Talbot in south Wales.
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it → blow → Wales
Much of its cargo remained buried beneath the sand for centuries.
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Much → remain → centuries
Metal detectorist Peter Hughes discovered most of the recovered treasure over 21 years, between 1996 and 2017.
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Hughes → discover → 1996
Storms and dredging gradually removed layers of sand at Margam Beach, exposing coins and other objects from the sixteenth-century vessel.
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Storms → remove → vessel
The brass combination lock was among the recovered items.
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lock → recover → items
Its rotating letter rings remained movable despite spending centuries beneath the sand, but nobody could open it.
uncertain
nobody → rotate → it
The artefact was subsequently acquired by Amgueddfa Cymru and became the subject of further investigation.
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artefact → acquire → investigation
CT scans revealed the hidden combination
Instead of attempting to force the lock open and risk damaging it, researchers from Amgueddfa Cymru collaborated with specialists at Cardiff University to examine its internal structure.
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researchers → reveal → structure
Dr David Williams, a research associate at Cardiff University's School of Engineering, used micro-CT scanning to produce detailed three-dimensional images of the lock's internal mechanism.
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Williams → use → mechanism
The technology allowed researchers to examine components that could not be seen from the outside.
uncertain
that → allow → outside
By studying the positions of the internal notches and their alignment with the letters on the rotating rings, the team identified the four-letter combination as ANCE.
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team → study → ANCE
Researchers then tested the combination and successfully opened the lock, confirming that their findings were correct.
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findings → test → lock
The process allowed them to unlock the centuries-old object without physically dismantling or damaging its mechanism.
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them → allow → mechanism
Williams explained that the scanning facility was normally used to examine bones and other biological structures, making the investigation of a historic combination lock an unusual application of the technology.
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investigation → explain → technology
What could the lock have protected?
uncertain
lock → protect → What
Although researchers have discovered how to open the lock, its original purpose remains a mystery.
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purpose → discover → lock
They believe it may have secured a small chest containing valuable belongings.
uncertain
it → believe → belongings
The lock was discovered near Spanish silver coins and two coin weights recovered from the shipwreck.
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lock → discover → shipwreck
This has led researchers to consider whether it might have protected valuable objects or a collection of personal belongings.
uncertain
it → lead → belongings
However, the contents of the possible chest have not been established.
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contents → establish → chest
Researchers believe it could have contained items such as documents or textiles that have not survived the centuries since the wreck.
uncertain
that → believe → wreck
Alastair Willis, senior curator for numismatics and the Welsh economy at Amgueddfa Cymru, said that Elizabethan combination locks were known in Britain, but this example was particularly interesting because of its condition and its connection to a shipwreck with a recorded date.
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example → say → date
Researchers are also interested in understanding whether the letters ANCE had a personal or symbolic significance for the person who originally set the combination.
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who → understand → combination
Historic treasure goes on display
The brass lock is among the Ann Francis shipwreck artefacts featured in the Tides of Treasure exhibition at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea.
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lock → go → Swansea
The collection also includes rare gold coins from the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and a boatswain's whistle recovered from the wreck.
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collection → include → wreck
The treasure was acquired for Wales's national collection with support from the Welsh Government.
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treasure → acquire → Government
The discovery has revealed how a centuries-old combination lock worked while preserving its original mechanism.
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lock → reveal → mechanism
Although the meaning of its four-letter code and the identity of the person who set it remain unknown, modern scanning technology has helped researchers unlock another part of the story of the Ann Francis, more than 400 years after the ship sank.
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ship → set → Francis
The Aporia
