Southsea Castle has a special place in the history of the Mary Rose – It was from here that Henry VIII witnessed the sinking of his favourite warship, and the first exhibition of objects recovered from the wreck was held within the castle keep. But what’s the full story behind...
Images are a powerful source of information that can tell us details words cannot. In this blog we explore the Anthony Roll, which depicts one of the most recognisable and iconic portraits of the Mary Rose.
Guest blog written by Francesca Raine for the Mary Rose collections team
Popular imagination inspired by movies and paintings shows the great Tudor explorers stood on the upper decks of their ships, one hand on the ship’s wheel as they search for foreigners to shoot at. However, the famous ship’s wheel, used alongside the anchor to represent all things maritime, wasn't in...
The Black Death hit Portsmouth several times in the city's history, with particularly nasty outbreaks in 1349, 1558, 1625 and 1665/6, but we're going to take a look at the outbreak that hit Henry VIII's fleet in September 1545.
Here in the archives, myself and the other Collections Volunteers have been scanning away and have recently reached our 60,000 digitised images milestone! As we make our way through the (hundreds of) film strips, we’re continuing to see Tudor objects make their way from the bottom of the Solent...
As well as the human inhabitants, the Mary Rose was home to a number of animals, some welcome, others not so welcome…