Though the Mary Rose is the most famous of discoveries retrieved from the Solent seabed, the search for Henry VIII’s Warship took archaeologists through years of Portsmouth’s history. Post-Tudor artefacts were important finds and have since made a home in the museum collection. Ranging from the 16th to 20th centuries, they provide insight into the stories of the Solent, uncovered by maritime archaeology.
Although a comparatively modern discovery, these items play a role in the Mary Rose story.
A common design for an 18th century chamber pot was discovered.
Ceramics were a prominent discovery during the excavations; their shards demonstrating the centuries of change since the Tudor period.
This blue and white fragment of a Westerwald chamber pot was uncovered. Believed to have been produced between the 1750s and 1780s, many similar designs of chamber pots were found in archaeological excavations on Oyster Street in Old Portsmouth. Chamber pots aboard ships were often a luxury reserved for those with their own quarters, so this must have belonged to an officer.
Naval mess crockery was a common find. Examples found during excavations were ceramic and often decorative, designed to represent each mess hall with their number painted or printed in the centre. Similarly, Tudor plates onboard the Mary Rose may have had the familiar ‘H’ branded in the wood to mark that they were owned by the King.
This fragment bears a section of the inscription ‘honi soi qui mal y pense’. This phrase originates in the 14th century, it can be translated as ‘Evil to him who evil thinks’. The phrase has been used in English armed forces for over six centuries and can be found on a number of bronze guns recovered from the Mary Rose.
The range of discoveries collected demonstrates the global scale of the Solent throughout history. One object has an interlocked “W” and “R” cypher that illustrates it would have originally belonged in the wardroom of one of the Royal Navy’s ships.
Cartwheel Pennies are examples of coin design from 1797, in which their weight corresponds with their value; a penny weighed an ounce (28g), while two pence weighed two ounces (56g). These pennies are much heavier than today’s copper coins and were produced until 1860. One cartwheel penny is the equivalent of around £1 in today’s money (after inflation).
Over 44,000,000 cartwheel pennies were produced, bearing the date of 1797; Their depiction of George III wearing a laurel wreath makes them easily recognisable. Unfortunately, examples in the Mary Rose Trust’s collection today no longer bear their inscriptions, however, their weight allows us to identify them.
1797 Cartwheel Pennies (Eduard Petrov used under CC BY-SA 4.0)
Bowl of a clay pipe featuring the Hanoverian Coat of Arms.
Clay pipes were a prominent discovery during excavations; popular across the late 16th to early 20th centuries, they depicted a range of designs from royal stamps to advertising.
Many pipes found during excavations bear makers marks of Portsmouth and the surrounding areas; however, some discoveries can be traced to Europe; ‘Peter Dorni’ pipes were manufactured in the Netherlands, these pipes were prominent among soldiers and sailors and have been uncovered in other military towns across Europe and the US. Tobacco was included as part of a sailor’s allowance from 1798, they were provided with 2lbs every month; this was double the usual consumption of a regular citizen at this time.
Small and fragile, many of those found in the Solent are incomplete, having deteriorated during their years on the seabed. However, designs have remained well preserved. The Hanoverian coat of arms was a recurring feature on many of the clay pipes discovered, marking their origins from the Georgian period. This pipe displays a portrait of William of Orange and Princess Anne and can be dated to around 1750.
