Mary Rose Closure.
The Mary Rose ship hall, where the hull of the Mary Rose is displayed, closed to the public in September 2009.
This is to enable the building of a new £35 million museum.
However the current Mary Rose Museum, displaying artifacts recovered from the wreck remains open to the public.
The hall will be closed for approximately 3 years whilst the new museum is built around the historic ships hull.
For further details of the new museum, follow this link Mary Rose Museum.
MARY ROSE.
The Mary Rose, a Tudor timber built warship built for Henry VIII in Portsmouth and named after his sister, sank in The Solent just off of the coast from Southsea Castle whist fighting a French Invasion fleet in 1545.
The reason for the sinking is still a mystery, water flooding through the gunports, overloading, human error and indiscipline amongst the crew are possible explanations.
Almost all of the men on board the Mary Rose drowned.
The wreck site was believed to have been discovered in 1836 by divers John and Charles Deane but it wasn't until 1965 that the wreck was rediscovered by Alexander McKee, a historian and amateur diver.
Between 1971 and 1979 the site was excavated and the Mary Rose Trust was formed in 1979, presided over by Prince Charles.
The archeologist Margaret Rule directed the underwater excavation, after first learning to dive.
The hull of the ship was placed in a specially made steel cradle designed to conform to the shape of the hull and lined with air bags.
Wires were attached to the hull so that it could be lifted off the sea bed and onto the steel cradle.
During the excavation more than 20,000 items were recovered including weapons, clothes and even a backgammon set, these now form a fascinating display which can be viewed along with the Mary Rose at the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth.
Visitors to the Mary Rose Ship Hall can see the ship from the viewing galleries which provide an excellent view of the hull and stern of the ship.
The wooden remains of the hull are constantly sprayed with polyethylene glycol a water based wax solution designed to preserve the timber.
It is estimated that by 2010 the spraying process can be switched off and the hull allowed to dry out without damage.
Near the entrance of the dockyard is the Mary Rose exhibition where articles recovered during the excavation are displayed and in the Mary Rose Ship Hall behind HMS Victory, the Mary Rose itself is located.
New Mary Rose Museum.
On January 25th 2008, the Mary Rose Trust had a lottery funding bid for £21 million accepted. This will be used to finance the building of a brand new museum
at Portsmouth Dockyard, which will house the Mary Rose and a large number of the thousands of artefacts excavated from the wreck site.
At present the ship and artefacts are housed in separate buildings due to lack of space.
The new building will replace the existing structure which was only designed as a temporary home but is now 25 years old and
in need of replacement. For more details of the new museum click here.
Mary Rose details:
Visitor Centre, Victory Gate, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hants, PO1 3LJ
Telephone: 02392 839766
Historic Dockyard Location.
Historic Ships Car Park.
