Behind the Scenes

An enormous amount of effort, organisation, teamwork and enthusiasm goes into the development, care and running of a museum. During the Summer of 2024, I worked as a Collections and Curatorial Intern at the Museum. My role entailed recording new items when they were added into the collection, checking the condition and location of artefacts in the museum store, scanning important documents, conducting research, and undertaking surveys to understand what our visitors think of the museum, amongst many other tasks.

As a student of Literature and Art History, I took this internship in between my second and third years at university as an opportunity to further develop my skills and gain professional experience in the museum and heritage sector.

My experience as part of the Collections, Conservation and Curatorial Team has been overwhelmingly positive and I have enjoyed every aspect of it. So, follow me, as I describe a day as an intern at the Mary Rose Museum.

After a short lunch break with my fellow interns, I move onto working on accessioning; the recording of important information when an object is accepted into a museum collection. The process of accessioning involves giving the item a unique identity number. All start with the prefix “PORMR” which is the museum specific code standing for “Portsmouth” and “Mary Rose”. This is followed by an “E” to note it is an entry item within our collection – for example “PORMRE888”. I start by assessing and recording the artefacts’ condition and dimensions. I then photograph the item and record the details in both paper records and electronically on the Mary Rose Collections Management System.

The exciting part of accessioning is being able to view and handle newly acquired items of varying types and from a wide range of sources. Some of the most interesting items I have accessioned include a Blue Peter Annual from 1988. It details the results of an art competition lead by the programme to create a design of a ceiling boss for York Minister Cathedral. The winner, Joanna Biggs, chose the Mary Rose as her design. An additional item which fascinated me was a woven badge/patch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The Endeavour carried a parrel ball, a small object used to raise the sails, from the Mary Rose to the International Space Station in 2011. The version of the patch in our collection was commercially produced but is accurately representative of the real-life ones sewn onto the Endeavour astronauts’ uniforms.

Later in the afternoon, at 3 pm, I have a meeting with the Collections, Conservation and Curatorial Teams, including staff and interns. These meetings are a great opportunity to hear about what else is going on across the museum and discuss upcoming events and affairs. As an intern this is a chance to listen and engage with staff members, learning how to contribute ideas in a professional atmosphere. It was my job to take minutes of the important information that was discussed.

After the meeting, I return to my laptop and write up my notes into a formatted template and emailed it to my line manager to review and edit before being sent to all attendees of the meeting.  By the time I complete this, it is nearing 5 pm and it is time for me to head home! After ensuring the lab and gate are locked up, and after saying goodbye to the other interns, I head back to my accommodation to make dinner and rest from a day at work as an intern at the Mary Rose Museum!