Mary Rose Museum opens
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The new museum is houses the 16th-century warship and has opened after an on-going GBP35 million project to ensure the ship does not decay and continue to be on display.
It is also home to what is dubbed the most “comprehensive collection” of Tudor artefacts, all raised from the seabed, and crew members have been recreated in the museum to show life onboard.
The launch event today (30 May) was attended by Dan Snow, Dr David Starkey and Sandi Toksvig and will open to the public tomorrow.
“When the Mary Rose was raised from the muddy waters of the Solent in 1982, the founding members of the Trust had a dream to put the ship and her contents into a permanent museum. It has been a long and difficult passage since then to achieve this aim. The technical challenges of conserving the hull and 19,000 artefacts have been very considerable, and the funding challenges equally so,” said John Lippiett, chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust.
“The dedication and determination of those engaged in this vital project have steadily brought the dream into reality, and today marks a truly significant milestone in the ship’s 500 year history,” he added.
Lincoln Clarke, chief executive of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard said the opening had put “putting the city and its Historic Dockyard firmly on the map as the place to explore British naval history and further underpinning the area’s offering as a visitor destination”.