Postscript: The Resurrection of the Mary Rose

The Deane brothers

As has been seen, the wreck was accidentally discovered in 1836. That part of the Solent was full of sunken remains, the most notable being those of a large warship, the Royal George, which had gone down in 1782. It was the possibility of recovering some of her guns, and earning a substantial bounty for so doing, which had brought Charles and John Deane to the site. John Deane was the inventor of a pioneering diving system, and it was with the aid of his invention that they hoped to succeed where others had failed. While they were on site, their assistance was requested by some fishermen whose nets had become snagged a short distance away. The Deanes knew exactly where the Royal George was, and she was clearly not the culprit. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the snag was a small piece of timber, not rising much above the seabed. However, it appeared that this insignificant object was actually part of a larger mass completely buried in the silt. Exploring further, John Deane discovered near at hand another object, projecting about a foot out of the mud, which proved on investigation to be a large gun. This they recovered, and found to their surprise that it was a bronze 12-foot demi-cannon, bearing a foundry mark of 1542, and the name of Henry VIII. This find was duly reported to the Ordnance Office, where it aroused considerable interest, and led to a correct identification of the wreck. Inspired by thoughts of profit, the Deanes risked their lives to raise several other guns from the same site: a massive bronze cannon cast by Robert and John Owen in 1535, a demi-cannon, a culverin and a bastard culverin, together with three complete wrought-iron port-pieces on their massive elm beds, and up to fifteen other portions of wrought-iron guns. These discoveries led to energetic exchanges between learned gentlemen, and enlightened encouragement by the Ordnance Office.

John Deane planned to write a book, and gathered some material for it, but it appears never to have been published under his name. The pioneering collection of documents published in the 1840s was well beyond Deane’s antiquarian competence, and was evidently the work of its publisher, S. Horsey. Something of Deane’s literary project may have been accomplished by this means, but only the fact that it was bound in wood recovered from the site specifically acknowledges a connection with the Deane brothers’ diving efforts. The profit margins of further work were not encouraging. The Deanes spent one more season on the site, in 1840, and recovered a wide range of objects, including bows, glass bottles, and numerous pieces of structural timber. They were unable to sell the larger complete guns, which were declared to be Crown property, but most of the other discoveries were auctioned at Portsmouth on 12 November 1840. In a bid to hasten the proceedings, and reduce his costs, John Deane also ignited some small charges of gunpowder. The intention seems to have been to make a crater in the seabed and excavate within using conventional picks and shovels. Although they claimed to have been successful, the steady stream of objects appears to have declined, and working the site became unprofitable. At that point the Deanes gave up, and went off after other projects, and it came to be generally believed that the Mary Rose had been blown up. As this was the fate eventually inflicted upon the neighbouring Royal George (which was a hazard to navigation) at the hands of the Royal Engineers, this belief is understandable.

Alexander McKee

In January 1965 the Southsea Branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club set up ‘Project Solent Ships’. Inspired by Alexander McKee, then an enthusiastic amateur diver and historian, although not a young man, the original intention had been to disprove the theory that the Mary Rose had been destroyed. However, as further investigation threw up a quantity of conflicting evidence as to her possible whereabouts, McKee decided to go for a wider project, seeking to locate and map just over a dozen historic wrecks in the Solent area. The original scientific purpose was to facilitate the exact calculation of timber deterioration. The team decided to start by looking for whatever might be left of the Royal George, after the attentions of the Royal Engineers, knowing, of course, that the Mary Rose (if there was anything left of it) was in roughly the same area. There was at that time no legislation protecting historic sites, so it was important that the investigators should keep any possible discoveries away from the eyes of potential treasure hunters. Starting in April 1966, the team began a systematic exploration of the surrounds of the Royal George debris. Visibility was poor, and there was more than a suspicion that explosive devices of a much more recent date might still be lying around. A frustrating season produced no positive results, beyond the discovery that the seabed in the immediate vicinity of the site they were reconnoitring appeared to be undisturbed. Whatever signs the Deanes might have left of their presence seemed to have been long since removed by the processes of nature.

In 1982 McKee published a detailed account of the manoeuvrings and frustrations that followed. Marine archaeology in the 1960s was an infant discipline, and those who had some experience in it had worked mainly in the Mediterranean. There were disagreements about techniques, about equipment, and even about the possibility of carrying out any serious investigation in such unpromising conditions. Then there was a breakthrough, of a sort, when the team found an exact location for the wreck plotted on a naval chart of 1841. It was not quite where they had been looking, but they had been close enough to be reasonably sure that there was nothing to be seen. Was the chart inaccurate, or had they been looking for the wrong things? In 1967, using sonar sounding equipment, McKee’s team detected some irregularities in the sea floor for which there was no obvious explanation, in more or less the charted place. These irregularities would have meant nothing to the naked eye, particularly one inhibited by poor visibility, but now they began to look significant. McKee negotiated a lease to the seabed to work on the site, and formed the Mary Rose 1967 Committee in collaboration with the Hampshire and Sussex Archaeology Committee. There was now genuine interest, and a fair amount of practical help, but funds remained extremely short, and virtually the whole of the summer of 1968 was wasted because of lack of money. It was not until 1970 that McKee’s persistence was finally rewarded, and weeks of fruitless digging and probing on the identified site began to recover objects which positively located a Tudor warship.

The corner had now been turned, and a gun recovered in 1970 attracted a great deal of interest and attention. Excavation continued at an enhanced pace in 1971, and more artefacts were recovered, but as yet there was no sign of the ship itself, and it began to look as though it had completely disintegrated. Then finally, later in 1971, large timbers were located, and it was clear that a part, at least, of the Mary Rose’s hull had survived. By 1973 the management of the project had been reorganized into a special branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, with McKee as Chairman and Director of Excavation. High-profile sponsors began to appear, and British Petroleum gave the project a diving platform, which greatly facilitated the work, for a while. Unfortunately it sank in a storm the following year. By this time, however, with tangible results being achieved almost every working day, a level of public interest had been created which guaranteed the future of the work. For five years, from 1973 to 1978, the outline of the great ship was slowly and painstakingly uncovered. It was lying on its starboard side at an angle of 60 degrees, and most of the upper port side had collapsed into the interior. Part of the bow had broken away, but in the circumstances the integrity of what remained was remarkable. No doubt for years after it had originally sunk, the timbers of the upper side had stood proud, but once they had collapsed, the entire wreck had been covered in silt, leaving virtually nothing to break the surface and attract the attention of an investigator. The small timber which had caught the fisherman’s net in 1836 had long since disappeared.

The Mary Rose Trust

By 1978 it was clear that something more than a maritime excavation was in progress. A major national treasure, of international significance, was being uncovered, and it was necessary to decide what to do about it. In 1979 the Mary Rose Trust was established, with a mandate to excavate, raise and conserve the wreck for posterity, and the power and responsibility to raise the necessary funds. An Executive Committee was established, upon which McKee served, and Margaret Rule was appointed as Archaeological Director. The Prince of Wales became a very active and involved President. Four years of intensive excavation followed on the site, using a large team of volunteer and professional divers, supervised by diving archaeologists. The hull was painstakingly excavated and her contents raised, after which the hull was prepared for salvage. On 11 October 1982, with the assistance of an enormous floating crane, the bulk of the 437-year-old warship was raised to the surface. The recovery and conservation of objects from the site continued, but the main focus now became the conservation and display of the hull itself.

When it was brought ashore to the Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, a customized workshop was erected over it. The location was No. 3 Dry Dock, itself a scheduled monument dating from 1799. There then followed twelve years of passive holding, during which the timber was sprayed with re-cycled and chilled fresh water for twenty hours a day, maintaining a humidity level of about 95 per cent. During this period various scientific tests were carried out to establish the most satisfactory methods of long-term conservation, and a number of the deck timbers recovered earlier from the site were reinstated in the hull. These internal structures were also supported by the insertion of vertical props and horizontal struts made of titanium, which is light, strong, and resistant to corrosion. In 1985 the hull was turned upright, an attitude not achieved since 1545. All this work was completed by December 1993.

Just after nine on the morning of 11 October 1982 the hull of the Mary Rose broke the surface of the Solent, lifted in a steel cradle by the floating crane Tog Mor. The Prince of Wales, President of the Mary Rose Trust, and King Constantine of the Hellenes were spectators, as their remote kinsman Henry VIII had been of the sinking 437 years before. (Dr M.H. Rule)

Active conservation began in September 1994, and for that purpose a new spray system was built, monitored and controlled by a computerized management system designed to maintain a stable environment and give warning of any problems. Using this system, the hull is presently being sprayed with heated Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) in a steadily increasing concentration, designed to avoid damaging the cell walls of the timber. Starting at 5 per cent, this concentration was increased to 50 per cent over a period of six years. The progress of the penetration of PEG is being constantly monitored. When this stage is completed in about 2005, the hull will be treated with PEG of a different molecular weight, intended to seal the penetrated timbers and to enable the whole structure to be dried without disintegration. It is expected that the second phase will take a further five years, after which will follow a process of controlled air drying, taking three to five years. When that is complete, the humidity will be reduced to 55 per cent. If all goes well, in about 2014 the conservation machinery will be finally switched off, although the temperature and humidity in the Ship Hall will still have to be carefully controlled.

The ship during the conservation process in the ship hall built over No. 3 Dry Dock in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The stern is to the right. (Mary Rose Trust)

The tomb of an unknown sailor from the Mary Rose in Portsmouth Cathedral. Burial was preceded by a requiem mass sung according to the Sarum rite. The stone of Welsh slate was cut by John Skelton. (Mary Rose Trust)

In addition to the ship itself, a total of over 19,000 objects have been found on or near the site, and brought ashore. The task of identifying, cataloguing and conserving all this material has been, and continues to be, an enormous one. In association with the Ship Hall, the Trust has also established a museum nearby, where many of these objects are displayed, and aspects of the ship’s active life are reconstructed. The museum contains large guns (some with reconstructed carriages), small arms, bows and other munitions. It also displays samples of rigging, navigational equipment, household utensils, remnants of shoes and clothing, board games, musical instruments, devotional objects, and the famous barber-surgeon’s chest. Copies of documents and illustrations help to establish the context, and constitute a remarkable capsule of sixteenth-century history.

The Trust is a registered charity and a limited liability company, receiving no regular funding from local or national government. Its work is supported through admission charges and other commercial operations, membership schemes and donations. The immense task of publishing a full report of the archaeological work which has been undertaken on the site is in hand, and will appear in five volumes, the first of which is expected in the autumn of 2003. The present collection of documents is published with the full support of the Trust, and as a contribution to its activities.

Addendum, 2022

Since the words above were written much has been achieved. Some aspects of the predicted schedule proceeded as planned, while others had to be modified; but there were also major developments unimagined in 2002. Almost immediately all that remained of Mary Rose embedded in the silt was threatened by the requirements of the twenty-first-century Royal Navy. It was thought that a new channel would have to cut through the wreck site for the Queen Elizabeth class carriers. By way of compensation, the Ministry of Defence funded further excavations in 2003 and 2005. Over 600 further artefacts were recovered, including 190 timbers, a bow anchor, and the powder chamber for a large gun. Most notably there emerged the stem timber bearing the ship’s emblem of the Tudor rose, clearly depicted in the Anthony Roll. The badge of HMS Queen Elizabeth appropriately incorporates the same device. In the event, the conflict of interests was avoided and the residual treasures of Mary Rose stay safely buried.

A discovery in the archives of Hatfield House suggested that modifications to carry more heavy guns may have compromised the ship’s structure just before her last campaign. This also prompted a reinterpretation of the sterncastle, resulting in an image more like that of the Anthony Roll.

The Trust’s five-volume report The Archaeology of the Mary Rose was duly published between 2003 and 2011. In 2013 the original Ship Hall was replaced by a magnificent purpose-built museum with the hull in the centre. The preserved ship is surrounded on three sides by galleries, with recovered objects displayed opposite the places they were found. The sprays were finally turned off in 2013, though the drying process continued for a further three years.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

All works listed here or elsewhere cited are published in London or by the issuing society unless otherwise stated.