The Tudor Dockyard

The origins of Portsmouth's naval story

The Tudor period saw the establishment and early growth of the dockyard at Portsmouth that would shape Portsea for the next five centuries. Henry VII is credited with founding the dockyard in 1495, when he ordered the construction of a dry dock at Portsmouth to service his fleet. This was one of the earliest purpose-built dry docks in European naval history, a facility that allowed ships to be hauled out of the water for hull maintenance and repair.

Henry VIII expanded his father's investment significantly, recognising that naval power was essential to England's security and ambitions. The dockyard grew in size and capacity, and Portsmouth became a principal base for the developing English navy. It was during this period that the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's flagship, was built and served. Her sinking during the Battle of the Solent in 1545, within sight of the king at Southsea Castle, was a traumatic moment in the Tudor naval story.

The Tudor dockyard was modest by later standards, but it established the fundamental pattern of activity that would continue for over five hundred years: the building, fitting, maintenance and repair of warships. The dry dock, the storehouses, the slipways and the skilled workforce were all present in embryonic form. The dockyard attracted a community of shipwrights, caulkers, riggers, sailmakers and other trades, beginning the process by which a working community grew up around the naval establishment.

The strategic logic that led Henry VII to choose Portsmouth, its natural harbour, its shelter, its deep water and its position on the Channel coast, remained valid for every subsequent generation. The Tudor decision to build here set in motion a chain of consequences that created the Portsea we know today.