The Mary Rose is the only 16th century warship on display anywhere in the world. Built between 1509 and 1511, she was one of the first ships able to fire a broadside, and was a firm favourite of King Henry VIII.

After a long and successful career, she sank accidentally during an engagement with the French fleet in 1545. Her rediscovery and raising were seminal events in the history of nautical archaeology.

The Mary Rose is effectively the first true warship to be built for England and was famously raised from the Solent before a worldwide audience of some 60 million people in 1982.

Over 19,000 artefacts were raised from within her but only 6% of these are currently on display in a temporary museum a short walk away from the hull. The well-known Tudor historian Dr David Starkey describes the collection as: “This country’s Pompeii, painting the finest picture of the world of sixteenth-century life”.

Whilst the Heritage Lottery Fund has been generous in its support of the conservation of the collection over the last 15 years, awarding almost £7 million, the Trust has received no government funding and has relied on visitor income and fundraising to continue the project. The decision to award the £21 million grant, as part of a larger £35 million project, finally secures a future for the Mary Rose.