Mary Rose returns to public view in UK
After a six month closure and a multi-million pound investment, the Mary Rose has opened to the public once again, 471 years on from its sinking in 1545.
The Mary Rose Trust at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard has unveiled never before seen views of Henry VIII’s favourite warship after having undergone 34 years of extensive treatment and conservation.
For the first time in 23 years, visitors to the Historic Dockyard can breathe the same air as the Mary Rose, taking in stunning panoramic sights of the ship from all nine galleries through floor-to-ceiling glazing on the lower and main decks.
Lying beside HMS Victory, which earlier this year unveiled a new visitor route and conservation, the Mary Rose adds to the fascinating insight into Britain’s naval history that Portsmouth Historic Dockyard offers visitors.
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Alex Hildred, head of research at the Mary Rose Trust, said: “When we excavated the Mary Rose we wanted people to see even a little of what we, as archaeologists, saw and experienced underwater.
“The fact that you can see it from three different angles that you’ve never been able to see before except for when she first came up is brilliant.
“With the lights on her she begins to look like parts of the ship we saw underwater.”
A unique Tudor time capsule, the Mary Rose has been undergoing continuous conservation since she was raised in 1982.
The latest conservation project will see visitors enter the Weston Ship Hall on the Upper Deck via an airlock, for the first time ever separated from the ship only by a glass balcony.
Here, they will be treated to a new visual way of telling her unique story.