Monitoring the Mary Rose wreck site

The Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII's fleet, was built in Portsmouth in 1509. She evolved as a warship having been updated on two occasions; a result of the development of ship building techniques and modern warfare. In July 1545, overlooked by the King, the Mary Rose sank whilst engaged in battle with the French fleet. However, it is widely believed that she sank accidentally, due to the excess load of artillery being carried, and was not as a consequence of the battle itself. The site was discovered in 1971 by Alexander McKee and became a designated wreck in 1974. In 1982, a large portion of the hull was excavated, and is on view at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard along with some of the 19,000 artefacts retrieved. The Mary Rose wreck site is situated 1.5nm off the Portsmouth harbour entrance in the Solent, and lies at a depth of 12m.

In June 2003, Wessex Archaeology surveyed the wreck site using magnetometer, sub bottom profiler and multibeam sonar. Several magnetic anomalies were identified around the area; one of which was the dive frame used to excavate the site. The largest feature apparent from the sub-bottom profiler results is the four metre deep excavation hole.

Since some of the wreck still remains in the Solent, it is constantly under threat from the movement of sediment together with the potential development of Portsmouth Harbour, which will ultimately have an effect on the archaeological remains.

The Mary Rose Trust was originally established in order to raise funds to excavate the remains of the vessel. It is now responsible for the monitoring of the wreck site and also ensuring the preservation of the raised artefacts and timbers through careful conservation methods, allowing them to be viewed by the public.

A summary of the Mary Rose, including her history, recovery and artefacts, can also be found on the English Heritage website.