The Mary Rose Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has reopened to the public this week following a six month closure and a £5.4 million redevelopment plan.
The reveal of the famous battleship is the culmination of a project that has cost £39 million overall, since the ship was pulled from the bottom of the Solent in 1982.
Visual story-telling
The new-look Mary Rose Museum will provide panoramic views of the ship from nine galleries through floor-to-ceiling windows that run parallel to the lower and main decks.
Close to the upper deck groups will enter the Weston Ship Hall via an airlock and will be separated from the ship only by a glass balcony.
The redevelopment has also put in place projections of Mary Rose crew members that will appear inside the ship.
These projections show the crew carrying out their daily routines, both during war time and when at peace, in order to create a realistic portrayal of what the ship would have looked like when in working order.
The museum has been set up like a mirror with the artefacts on one side and the ship on the other. The new galleries have been measured out to be exactly the same height as the ship so groups can see where artefacts – like a carpenter’s tools, prayer book and backgammon set – would have been on the ship.
You can watch the video below to see what the Mary Rose Museum looks like following the redevelopment project:
History of the Mary Rose
Mary Rose was an English Tudor warship used during the reign of Henry VIII; it was sunk during a battle in the Solent in 1545, and rediscovered in 1971. 500 men went down with the ship, and only 35 survived.
The ship was raised in 1982, and since then the hull has been kept in highly protective surroundings.
Since then, it’s been kept in a state of controlled air-drying, and is now open to the public.
Group visits
Pre-booked groups of a minimum of 15 people visiting the Mary Rose Museum are eligible for group rates; group travel organisers should call 023-9283 9766 to make a booking.
For further group travel information visit www.historicdockyard.co.uk/tickets-and-offers.
