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On Monday this week, construction began on the £35m Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, despite the Mary Rose Trust - a charity organisation devoted to the conservation of Henry VIII's favourite ship - still battling to raise £4m for the construction fund.
28 years to the day since the classic Tudor flagship was recovered from the depths of the Solent, work has begun on the construction of a mmuseum by Wilkinson Eyre Architects where the Mary Rose - who went down during a battle with the French in 1545 - can be reunited with the 19,000 precious artefacts recovered with her.
The timber structure will replace a temporary museum that is currently only able to display one twentieth of the delicately-preserved artefacts in the Mary Rose Trust's collection, located just 300m away from the new construction site.
The Mary Rose Trust has worked tirelessly to try and raise the £15m needed to add to the £21m donated by the Heritage Lottery Fund, however they are still £4m from achieving the necessary total to see the Museum through to completion. Relying solely on the donations of generous benefactors, the Trust is working avidly to raise awareness for the historical conservation project.
Philippe Jouy, Managing Director of Warings (the construction team on the project), explains: "This is a unique project which will pose some unique challenges for our dedicated team. Not least is the immense care required to build a modern museum around the precious timbers of the ship as the final stages of its conservation continues.
We are well-equipped with the necessary skills and expertise and are proud to be leading this landmark development to protect and preserve a British historic icon. The museum will represent the very best in 21st century architecture and construction, providing a beautiful and secure environment for the finest collection of 16th century artefacts in the world."
Visit www.maryrose.org to donate to the Mary Rose Trust.
Sian Disson
News Editor