All the exhibits were raised from the bottom of the Solent Strait, on the shore of which Portsmouth is located: there on July 19, 1545, the flagship of the fleet of King Henry VIII "Mary Rose" turned over and sank, and did not manage to enter into the beginning battle with the French. Only in 1982 the ship was raised to the surface: by this time, only a third of its hull remained - the starboard side. But even this is unique, since not a single ship has survived from the Tudor era. Also, tens of thousands of items found there are extremely valuable, because many of them have not survived analogues. The number and variety of finds, including not only guns, but also personal belongings and pets of 415 team members (only 35 managed to escape then) allows researchers to call "Mary Rose" "English Pompeii". 19,000 of the found objects are on display in the new museum.
The building in the port of Portsmouth resembles the hull of a ship: it is an oval volume, sheathed in dark resinous wood and covered with a flat steel roof. Two pavilions are attached to it: in one there is a lobby, a cafe and a shop, in the other there is an educational center and a technical compartment.
Since the dry dock of Portsmouth is a monument of the 18th century, the building is largely sunk into the ground so as not to disturb the historical ensemble, and also not to distract attention from another famous ship placed nearby - the battleship Victory, the former flagship of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will was responsible for the interior of the museum. There, along the longitudinal wall, the starboard side of "Mary Rose" is installed: now it is hidden from visitors by a temporary partition with windows, since it is dried with hot air after 31 years of wet processing (first it was sprayed with water, then 19 years, until April 2013 - with a waxy substance - polyethylene glycol), and will finish only after 4-5 years. When the conservation is completed, the wall will be removed, and it will be possible to approach the ship.
The starboard side of the Tudor flagship is opposed by a 3-tiered exhibition area designed as a "port side", dark and crowded to give an idea of life below deck (only the exhibits and handrails are brightly lit). Traditional exhibition halls are provided at the ends of the building.
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