This is a very limited opportunity to join such luminaries as the world-renowned author CJ Sansom, amongst other illustrious friends of ours, by placing a permanent inscription upon the exterior of the Mary Rose Museum, either as a memento to a loved one or simply as an expression of support.
Once approval for the construction of the new museum was in place in 2009 a wide-ranging fundraising campaign was launched to help finance the build. One strand of this was to invite supporters to place inscriptions upon the wooden exterior of the museum – known as the ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign. These inscriptions were to accompany the marks of the original crew of the Mary Rose that were discovered on many of their personal possessions during the excavation, with these marks then being meticulously replicated upon the museum’s exterior.
The ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign, necessarily completed in 2013 upon the museum’s opening, was a huge success and included contributions from well-known individuals, who felt moved to support the Mary Rose Trust at this historic stage of its development. Amongst many others, this included the celebrated novelist, the late Chris (C.J.) Sansom, who not only donated towards having his own name appear, but also one for that of his most famous creation, Matthew Shardlake, he being the lead protagonist in the series of seven ‘Shardlake’ novels. (Indeed, without wishing this in any way to be a spoiler, the fifth novel, ‘Heartstone’ features the tragic capsizing of a certain Tudor vessel!)
As mentioned, despite its success the Make Your Mark campaign was necessarily terminated once the museum had been constructed, as the red cedar planks upon which the donor inscriptions appeared were inscribed in a workshop, prior to their being mounted, in order to form the ‘wale’ line (think ‘gunwale’) around the western end of the museum building. However, this meant that despite around 100 inscriptions having been made, space remained for at least a further dozen.
In 2023, on the 10th anniversary of the museum’s opening, it was decided to resume the Make Your Mark campaign, in response to enquiries from museum supporters regarding memorialising loved ones. The only challenge with this was that inscriptions then had to be made in situ as the planking could not be removed. To ensure these seamlessly matched those from a decade ago not only would a skilled craftsperson now be needed to cut them but, also, as the wale line is situated up to four metres above ground level, they would need to have a very good head for heights!
After exhaustive research, and a very helpful endorsement by the Society of Wood Engravers, the ideal individual was found, in the shape of East Sussex-based artist, Keith Pettit. Keith has proved his undoubted proficiency (and immunity from vertigo!) with the installation of some half a dozen inscriptions to date. This leaves space for just another five or so of these exceptionally rare opportunities for a commemorative message. Let’s hope Keith’s good head for heights holds out!
If you are interested in having a commemorative inscription, please make contact via: development@maryrose.org or 023 9275 0521 Ext: 2203