• South West Fed - Celebrating 94 years of being 'Together for Heritage'
  • info@swfed.org.uk
Two people interact with a longbow exhibit at the Mary Rose Museum. A woman in a white blouse pulls back the bowstring while another person in a brown sweater watches closely. A museum guide in the background explains the exhibit, with a historical maritime scene displayed on the wall behind them.

SWFed Christmas Event at Mary Rose Museum

This month, SWFed members visited the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth for a Christmas gathering. After a warm welcome from CEO Dominic Jones, we were joined by Dr Alexzandra Hildred, Head of Research, who gave a brilliant presentation about the history of the ship, its reclamation from the seabed and the creation of the museum itself. Dr Hildred started as a volunteer in 1979, helping with the underwater excavation of the ship. She has since dedicated her career to caring for and researching the Mary Rose.

Henry VIII’s Mary Rose sunk in 1545 during the Battle of Solent. Tudor efforts to salvage the boat were unsuccessful and the exact location was soon forgotten. In 1965, historian and amateur diver Alexander Mckee relaunched the search for the Mary Rose. Over the next five years, alongside a team of enthusiastic volunteers, Mckee was able to locate the wreck. But, by the time the ship was rediscovered, only the starboard side remained intact due to erosion caused by the sea currents. During the 1970s, interest in the Mary Rose increased and thousands of dives took place to recover items from the wreck.

The ship was brought to the surface in 1982, on a purpose-built cradle which still sits underneath the wreck. It was placed in Portsmouth Historic Docks. This was a massive press moment and turned the Mary Rose into a household name. By 1983, a viewing platform had been built over the ship and the following year a small museum was added as a further visitor attraction.

The current museum was opened in 2013. What is particularly striking about today’s Mary Rose Museum is the care that has gone into creating a coherent design. The object galleries are a mirror of the recovered side of the ship, with items placed in the locations in which they were originally discovered. Personal stories take centre stage. Cases with personal artefacts were found on the ship, allowing life stories to be pieced together. The museum also displays some of the skeletal remains from the wreck. Facial reconstruction technology has been used to show what the crew may have looked like and educated guesses have been used to match human remains with occupation.

We were given a guided tour of the museum, highlighting some of the most exciting objects in the collection and what they could tell us about the crew of the ship. We also had the opportunity to handle some of the items recovered from the Mary Rose, including some rope, a piece of wood from the ship itself and a cannon ball.

As part of our visit, we experienced the new 4D Dive, where we were able to imagine what it was like to be a diver working in 1982 to recover the boat. The experience was made more real with wind gusts, shaking chairs and bubbles!

After the visit we were treated to mulled wine and festive snacks and an opportunity to network.

A huge thanks to Dr Hildred and the tour guide team – it was a fantastic day out!

Katherine Nichols