Mary Rose Museum
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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. Outstanding job.
Chris “Shiner” WrightChris “Shiner” Wright
10
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 will be back.
Vicky GreenwoodVicky Greenwood
50
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 visiting Portsmouth
Duncan AndrewsDuncan Andrews
00
We marked out the Mary Rose Museum as our single attractions on the tickets we bought. There was a large group of us and this seemed the best bet to cater for adults and children. We chose well and the Mary Rose did not disappoint. The attraction is well run with friendly and engaging staff. They did well fielding the questions from both young and old minds and really helped ignite passion and wonder for this bit of history. The exhibits are a marvel and seeing the possessions gives you a small glimpse into what life aboard one of these ships may have entailed. The ship itself is something else. On the one hand it is a sizeable vessel but in comparison to modern ships feels surprisingly small. It may have been diminutive but no less formidable for it. The cannon display was fantastic with the kids being able to get involved and again added amazement as to how it all would have worked on board. Life as a sailer/soldier would have been very tough indeed. There is so much information here that you could easily while away hours losing yourself in rich tapestry of history. While younger kids will tire of walking around at some point, older kids and adults will love what is on offer.
Leigh StrongLeigh Strong
20
Incredible museum a must visit if you don’t have the Ultimate Explore ticket for the Historic Dockyards and are trying to decide which attraction/s to see 😉 Over 3 levels you get a Fantastic view of what remains of the Mary Rose, the ‘top deck’ entered via an air lock lets you take photos without glass in between 👍🏻. As well as the boat herself you can view a large amount of recovered relics and remains of the sailors lost when she went down and amazing details about them…absolutely fascinating. There’s also a great 4D experience at the end, well worth a little wait at busier times, which goes through the history of recovering her. If it is busy you can go back at a quieter time and ask a member of staff to show you ‘the back route’ so you don’t need to navigate the whole museum again. There’s a large gift shop, of course, selling a wide range of souvenirs and gifts…some seemed reasonably priced and some seemed somewhat overpriced, in my opinion…a mug was in the sale for £20, reduced from £25 when I was there 😱 Also a cafe just off the gift shop selling all the usual fare…didn’t try it so can’t comment on quality.
Jo JhanjiJo Jhanji
00
Incredibly interesting museum which has loads of artefacts that have been really well displayed. The key draw obviously is the salvaged wreck of the Mary Rose. Very busy, popular museum. We had a booked talk/walk as an initial introduction to the building, it's contents and it's history. The first part you go into just has a curtain across separating you from the busy museum behind. So we missed a lot of that part of the talk as it couldn't be heard above all the scriking bedlam of schoolkids behind in the entrance. That was the only part though like that, but I feel there should be something more substantial than a thin curtain barrier. After those prerecorded bits, we had a knowledgeable guide take over. The whole exhibition has been well thought out and carefully and imaginatively displayed. In particular, there are film runs with actors reenacting in different parts of the Mary Rose itself, which you can watch through the large plate glass windows. It brought it all very much alive. Loads of information to absorb. Very well worth seeing. Has a gift shop at the entrance.
Ambrose's Legit Honest ReviewsAmbrose's Legit Honest Reviews
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Nearby Attractions Of Mary Rose Museum
Gunwharf Quays
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
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Learn more insights from Wanderboat AIBasic Info
Address
Main Rd, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3PY, United Kingdom
Map
Phone
+44 23 9281 2931
Call
Website
maryrose.org
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Reviews
Overview
4.8
(2.6K reviews)
Ratings & Description
cultural
accessibility
family friendly
Description
The Mary Rose Museum is a historical museum located at Historic Dockyards in Portsmouth in the United Kingdom run by the Mary Rose Trust.
attractions: Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Spinnaker Tower, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Action Stations, Rituals, Aspex Portsmouth, HMS M.33, restaurants: Slug & Lettuce - Portsmouth, Zizzi - Portsmouth, All Bar One Portsmouth, Ship Anson, The Old Customs House, Gunwharf Quays, Las Iguanas - Portsmouth - Gunwharf Quays, Nando's Portsmouth, Bella Italia - Portsmouth Gunwharf Quays, Brasserie Blanc Portsmouth, wagamama portsmouth gunwharf quays
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