Mary Rose Museum

Heritage, Portsea

The Mary Rose Museum houses the remains of Henry VIII's warship, which sank during the Battle of the Solent in 1545 and was raised from the seabed in 1982 in a landmark archaeological operation. The museum, which opened in its current form in 2013, displays the surviving section of the hull alongside thousands of artefacts recovered from the wreck, including weapons, navigation instruments, personal belongings, tools, clothing and the remains of crew members. The collection provides an extraordinarily vivid picture of Tudor maritime life. The museum building is designed so that visitors can view the ship from multiple levels and angles, with the artefacts displayed in context on the opposite side of the gallery. Conservation of the hull required decades of careful treatment. The Mary Rose Museum is one of the most visited attractions in the Historic Dockyard.