Mary Rose celebrates £21 million from Heritage Lottery Fund

Friday, 25th January 2008

It's great news for the Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth today as the Heritage Lottery Fund announces that it has earmarked a £21 million grant to be awarded to the Mary Rose Trust.

This major grant is to complete the conservation of the Mary Rose and build a permanent museum in the Historic Dockyard to house the hull and her artefacts.

Michael Aiken, Chairman of the Trust, expressed his delight with the news. He said "The HLF have yet again displayed their commitment to ensuring the nation's core heritage is saved for posterity".

Dame Liz Forgan, Chair of the HLF, commented on the significance of the ship and her collection:
"The Mary Rose is an amazing time capsule and one of our most precious heritage icons. Many of us remember the moment when the ship was found and subsequently raised from the sea bed. Since then, more than seven million have come to marvel at it and learn more about its fascinating history. This major Heritage Lottery Fund investment will help convert years of painstaking archaeological endeavour into an amazing living history experience."

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 decision to award the £21 million grant, as part of a larger £35 million project, finally secures a future for the Mary Rose.

John Lippiett, Chief Executive said: "This grant now enables us to complete the long and painstaking conservation that has lasted 25 years. The project started with a dream in the 1960s by Alexander McKee to rediscover the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's favourite warship. The world watched as the team, led by Dr Margaret Rule, raised the ship and her stunning collection of artefacts in 1982. I am absolutely thrilled that today we can announce that the Mary Rose and her unique collection will be saved for the nation, in perpetuity."

He continued: "The museum, designed by Wilkinson Eyre with Pringle Brandon as the interior architects, will be remarkable. It will contain almost 70% of the ship's recovered artefacts instead of the 6% in the current exhibition. There will be something for everyone once we have finished. The hugely important aspects of improved access and increased learning space for the many thousands of students who visit each year will finally be achieved."

"The hard work starts now," said John Lippiett. "The Trust has to raise the match funding of £14m within a very tight timescale. We are encouraged already to have raised £3.5 million in cash and pledges including a very generous £1m donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Our call now is for everyone to get behind the fundraising to help us preserve this priceless national treasure forever."

The museum is due to open in time for the Olympics and promises to boost visitor numbers. The hull will be carefully dried within the new museum until she can be displayed fully in 2016 when galleries will allow visitors to see both the outside and inside of the conserved hull.