Historical stories, conservation and collections updates and other stories from the Mary Rose
An inventory of “stuff, tackle, apparel, ordnance, artillery and habiliments of War” made on 27th July 1514, lists the Mary Rose carrying, among all the rigging and weapons, a quantity of cookware, including a frying pan! We’ve no idea if it remained on board until 1545, or if it got...
The team at the Mary Rose are working with researchers from the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton and Traditional Boats of Ireland Project to learn more about the longbows recovered from Henry VIII's flagship, lost in the waters of the Solent off the Portsmouth coast.
We always talk about Alexander McKee being the person who discovered the wreck of the Mary Rose, but although it was because of him the ship was rediscovered in the 1970s, there are a few people who got up close to Henry VIII's flagship while she was still on the...
Branding is everything. Everybody recognises the Nike swoosh, the Apple logo, or the McDonalds Arches, because they’re everywhere. In England during the time of the Mary Rose, the most prominent image was the Tudor Rose, symbol of the Royal Family, and of the king, Henry VIII.
While the Tudor Rose...
The dog, nicknamed "Hatch" by our team, was discovered on the seabed on 12th July 1981 outside the carpenter’s cabin, under a pile of chests belonging to the carpenter and several gunners.
Most of what we consider "Christmas" comes from the Victorians, but the Tudors had their own Christmas traditions too. How many do you know?
While today relations between England and Scotland are mostly civil, it’s not always been that way. Scotland were long-time allies of France, so in 1513 King James IV of Scotland demanded that the English army withdraw from French Soil. Henry, unsurprisingly, declined, so James IV built up an army of...
The Mary Rose is home to a host of amazingly preserved artefacts, many of which feature decorations such as Tudor Roses, Fleur de Lys and lions, but there are one or two more fantastical beasts lurking in our collections…
Henry VIII built up a large fleet during his time as king, and there were some very peculiar names among them!
We've chosen some from a list of Henry VIII's ships that fought in the French wars between 12 February 1545 and 11th July 1546, can you spot which ones...