In November 2022, Charlie Johns, Heritage Specialist, was commissioned by Dr Stephen Swabey, Project Director - Climate Adaptation Scilly, Council of the Isles of Scilly, to undertake an archaeological watching brief at Porth Hellick Beach, Porth Hellick, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (NGR SV 9258 1072) during the removal and reinstatement of the Sir Cloudesley Shovell Memorial and other groundworks associated with construction of the new sea defences. This work was carried out to satisfy Condition C5 of planning consent under application number P/21/051/FUL. The memorial consists of a roughly upright block of stone on a granite pedestal placed on a high bank of sand at the top of the beach just above high water mark. It is 1.4m high overall and there is no inscription on it. A smaller rectangular stone has been placed at the foot of the north side of the memorial which bears a metal memorial plaque. The memorial was moved to a safe place under archaeological supervision on 1st December 2022. There were no foundations for the monument, the base stone was resting directly on gravelly sand in a slight depression. The memorial was returned to its new position close to the original one on completion of the works. A watching brief was carried out on 9th February 2023 during construction of the access track and initial excavations for the ramp to the beach. Scraping the surface of the existing trackway near the gateway to the beach revealed a compacted metalled surface of small pebbles over hard greyish brown sand. A test pit on the beach side of the gateway revealed a layer of turf and topsoil 0.25-0.3m deep over a layer of soft greyish brown sand clay 0.4m deep over a layer of dark yellowish brown sand clay 0.5m deep (i.e., to the bottom of the test pit). The ramp was completed on 5th of April 2023. The depth of excavation was approximately 1.2m because water inflow prevented any deeper before groundwater/saltwater ingress occurred, even at low tide. Close examination of the excavation was therefore precluded for Health and Safety reasons; the observed stratigraphy comprised layers of soft sand and clay. No paleoenvironmental deposits or archaeological features were observed and no artefacts were found. The ramp was designed and installed to be a permanent fixture on the beach. The memorial was moved to a safe place under archaeological supervision on 1st December 2022. There were no foundations for the monument, the base stone was resting directly on gravelly...