Mary Rose Museum — Attraction in Portsmouth

Having served in the Royal Navy, having been based at my home port of Portsmouth, even our first married quarters was in Eastney, you'd have thought that the number of times I'd walked past the Mary Rose museum, I should have popped in! I remember the discovery of the wreck, watched the lifting of the wreck and thought I knew a fair bit about the Mary Rose. Wrong. The new layout of the museum since they've switched off the wet spraying protection is absolutely amazing. The clever use of 3d projection onto the actual wreck brings a whole new reality to the exhibit. Across multiple levels there are videos, interactive displays, and plenty of actual artifacts brought up with the main wreck. The layout of the exhibit is well thought out, allowing you to imagine you are walking through the ship itself. The stories about the bodies found within the wreck give a great insight into the lives on those who worked onboard, including the ships unfortunate caninie crew member! The sheer number of items and their condition is mind boggling and a testiment to the work involved in restoring and preparing for display. The cannons look like they could be fired tomorrow. There is so much to see so leave yourself 2 to 3 hours. The whole setup is wheelchair friendly and lightweight stools are provided for you to rest whilst reading the texts or viewing the presentations. The staff couldn't be more helpful and are located from the main gate to the dockyard, right the way through to the exits. Lookout for "appearances" from the ships crew, captain and maybe Henry VIII himself! Quite simply this is one of, if not the best, exhibits I've ever seen. I can't believe how many times I must have walked past. You get a real sense of what life must have been like back around 1511 (over 500 years ago!). Suitable for kids and adults of all ages! Pay once and visit multiple times throughout the year. You could quite literally spend a whole day in the dockyard and still not see everything it has to offer. You could easily spend half a day at the Mary Rose herself (but alllow a minimum of two hours for the best experience). Finally, congratulations to all those involved in getting Mary Rose to her current state....

We bought yearly passes for our family to the dockyard in 2019, before the pandemic and loved to visit - the only nag being that the Mary Rose Museum was not included. We renewed recently, now its easier to visit attractions again and were delighted to find out that it was now part of our annual membership. I cannot express adequately in words how wonderful this museum is. You enter initially into an interactive chamber, with narration from a very familiar and famous voice. You get to meet Henry VIII himself and experience the Mary Rose sinking. Getting to see the ship itself is amazing; it's at the centre of the building and you work your way around it, through different displays and floors. You catch glimpses of it, as its kept in relative darkness until they suddenly bring the lights up and you get an idea of the scale of it. They have a hologram display which beams video of actors, portraying different members of the crew going about their business, directly onto the ship - which our kids loved. On the very top floor, you can finally go into the actual chamber itself (through an airlock, which the kids were delighted with). It's really eerie and ethereal experience. We visited during half term and the kids were invited to take part in special activities offered by the museum and made their own clay ships tiles. There are also interactive activities dotted about the building for the younger visitors to try. It's BRILLIANT, we...

I recently visited The Mary Rose and had an incredible experience learning about the history of the ship and the people who sailed on it. The exhibition is incredibly well done and provides a wealth of information about the ship and its place in history. I particularly appreciated the interactive exhibits and the replica of the ship, which helped me to visualize what life would have been like on board.

One of the things that stood out to me during my visit was the amount of extra information that I was not aware of before. I had a lot of misconceptions about the ship and its sinking, but the exhibition helped me to understand the true history of the Mary Rose and the role it played in the Tudor navy. I was especially fascinated by the artifacts recovered from the ship and the stories they tell about the crew and their daily lives.

The staff were knowledgeable and friendly and were more than happy to answer any questions I had. The facilities were clean and well-maintained, and the museum is easily accessible by public transportation.

Overall, I had an excellent visit to The Mary Rose and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in naval history or Tudor history. It's a truly unique and fascinating glimpse into the past and I learned a lot that I was not aware of before. It's definitely a must-see if you're...