The Mary Rose Museum

a man is wearing ear buds and says how have i never noticed ALT: a man is wearing ear buds and says how have i never noticed

Is there something going on between you two?

Money, money, money: It’s a rich man’s ship - The Mary Rose The coinage on board the ship once again shows how the Mary Rose is a snapshot of the Tudor period and holds significant evidence for all aspects of Tudor life.

In this month's collections blog, we take a look at the coinage found on the Mary Rose, how it survived on the seabed, and how Henry VIII tried to boost the economy through sneaky means...

maryrose.org/blog/money-m...

The skeleton of the Mary Rose's dog, Hatch.

A frosted acrylic outline of a rat, with four bones resting on itl, including a pelvis.

a blurry microscope image of a flea, recovered from a piece of sackcloth recovered from the Mary Rose.

Happy #WorldAnimalDay!

There were a few animals on the Mary Rose, some invited, others no so much...

maryrose.org/blog/the-ani...

#OnThisDay, 4th October 1983, the Mary Rose went on display for the first time.

Back then the ship was still being sprayed with water, so many of our visitors remember getting wet - were you one of them? Let us know!

The hull of the Mary Rose, viewed at an angle from the stern.

Do let us know if you're getting tired of pictures of our frankly magnificent Tudor ship...

maryrose.org

A closeup of a Tudor ship's gimballed compass, with a set of brass dividers sitting on the box it's mounted in.

Discover navigation in 16th century England through the wayfinding items and tools recovered from the Mary Rose in our talk and tour on Saturday 18th October!

maryrose.org/events/dive-...

YouTube video by TechnotronicVEVO Technotronic - Get Up (Before The Night Is Over)

But contrary to poular belief, it wasn't their only hit - the follow up Get Up (Before The Night Is Over) did just as well as Pump Up The Jam in the UK charts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6xD...

A long cylindrical wooden pole, with a hollow end, lying on the floor next to the Mary Rose

A section of the wooden cylinder, with a rectangular hole in it

#OnThisDay, 1989, Technotronic's hit single "Pump Up the Jam" reached No. 2 in the UK charts.

Luckily, the bilge pump on the Mary Rose had an inspection hatch, so you could see what was jamming it and clear it out.

No, hang on, that's "Jam up the pump"...

A short section of hemp anchor cable, in front of the wreck of the Mary Rose

A closeup of the rope, showing the fibres of the anchor cable and the pitch coating it, which has worn off on most of the more exposed surface.

Some people compare the smell of the pitch on the rope in our handling area to Marmite, in that some like it and some hate it.

Also, its dark brown and sticky - not bad for something that's spent 437 years under the sea!

A microscope photo of a gribble, or Limnoria, a woodlouse-like sea creature with a hunger for wood

A ship worm, or Teredo - despite the name, it's actually a mollusc, which makes deep holes in wood and lives in them

A piece of MAry Rose Wood showing holes from Teredo.

That's also why we have half a ship - the half that exists was buried in the mud, the rest was exposed to shipworm and gribble, as well as tidal action and Victorian salvage operators...

A leather Jerkin

A leather pouch, with traces of the original embroidery

six leather shoes from the Mary Rose

Lots of people asking how it survived, it's really rather simple.

When the ship sank, it was buried in anoxic mud, so there were no bioorganisms there to eat any of the organic matter. This is why we have so much leather too!

An 480+ year old oak leaf, found on the Mary Rose.

It's hard to believe that this oak leaf, found on the wreck of the Mary Rose, fell from a tree during the reign of Henry VIII.

Wonder if the tree it fell from ended up on a ship too?

Margaret Rule, an older woman, standing in front of the recently raised Mary Rose in its yellow cradle.

Happy Birthday to Margaret Rule, born #OnThisDay, 27th September 1928

Margaret was the lead archaeologist on the Mary Rose project from 1967, and led the operation that saw the ship returned to the surface in 1982.

She died in 2015.

maryrose.org/news/margare...

A closeup of a Tudor ship's gimballed compass, with a set of brass dividers sitting on the box it's mounted in.

Discover navigation in 16th century England through the wayfinding items and tools recovered from the Mary Rose in our talk and tour on Saturday 18th October!

maryrose.org/events/dive-...

They're actually vents, circularing cool dry air around the ship hall.

A view from above of the Mary Rose, with a blue crane extended over it.

Wonder how many other museum conservators need a cherry picker to check on their larger artefacts...

maryrose.org

Dr Tabitha Stanmore, Historian of magic, witchcraft and environments

A woodcut showing a devil and a ship sinking.

Join @magicnotwitches.bsky.social in an exploration of practical magic in English history on 28th October at the Mary Rose Museum!

maryrose.org/events/cunni...

a man talking on a cell phone with the words tell me what i 'm missing behind him ALT: a man talking on a cell phone with the words tell me what i 'm missing behind him

Literally only just saw this - it wasn't in our notifications!

Hope you enjoyed your visit, unless you haven't been yet, in which case, do let us know when you arrive!

The life of the Mary Rose - The Mary Rose The Mary Rose was in service for 34 years before she sank in 1545. Delve into her service history and her role into Henry VIII's Navy.

maryrose.org/discover/his...

Didn't get raptured?

Maybe you shouldn't have been going around saying the Mary Rose sank on her maiden voyage...

A pair of brass dividers - two metal prongs connected with a hing on a curved section at the end.

Two pairs of dividers sitting on the lid of a chest, next to a wooden case and a wooden tankard.

Four pairs of dividers were found on the Mary Rose.

Made of brass, the pilot would have used them to plot courses and distances on navigational charts.

We didn’t find any maps or charts on the Mary Rose though - paper doesn't last long in the sea!

maryrose.org/artefacts/sp...

Three pewter spoons, one with the bowl heavily corroded. Two of them have swirly knobs on the end, one has an acorn-shape.

Three pewter spoons were found on the Mary Rose!

The pewter is high in tin, but low in lead, suggesting that these are English made, despite the fleur-de-lis that appears on all three.

Jobs and volunteering - The Mary Rose Jobs, academic placements and volunteering opportunities at the Mary Rose Trust.

We're looking to recruit a caretaker, who will provide a high standard of building maintenance at the museum, conservation facility and offices, ensuring a first class environment for staff and our visitors.

Closing date is Friday, 26th September 2025

maryrose.org/about-the-tr...

Dive Deeper- The Navigation Items Recovered - The Mary Rose Discover navigation in 16th century England through the wayfinding items and tools recovered from the Mary Rose

Anyway, enough showing off all our compasses, if you're interested in Tudor navigation, we've got a talk coming up about the various wayfinding equipment found on the Mary Rose!

maryrose.org/events/dive-...

A circular piece of wood with a pin in the middle, surrounded by a lead weight that would have helped keep the compass steady in it's gimbal in rough seas.

There's also this one, not on display but still identifiable as a compass base, with the pivot pin still in place.

A wooden cylindrical box, containing a brass gimble and a compass bowl in the centre. There is also a round lid with a knob in the middle.

Well, we say it was the earliest, there was also this one, also found on the Mary Rose.

A gimballed compass, mounted in a square wooden box.

🎵🎶There's no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going...🎶🎵

No, wait, we found this compass, the earliest example known from an English ship at the time of discovery, panic over!

The life of the Mary Rose - The Mary Rose The Mary Rose was in service for 34 years before she sank in 1545. Delve into her service history and her role into Henry VIII's Navy.

Find out more about the long life of the Mary Rose

maryrose.org/discover/his...

#OnThisDay, 20th September 1511, the Mary Rose is recorded as being on the Thames, having travelled there from Portsmouth, to collect her guns and receive her final fitting-out.

Contrary to popular myth, this 'maiden voyage' went without a hitch.

🖼️ Bill Bishop