Exploring the story of the Mary Rose Trust, the dynamic heritage organisation providing the venue for this year’s AIM Conference.
Dominic Jones joined the Mary Rose Trust in 2018 as Chief Operating Officer following a commercial background with Merlin Entertainments. He started his career working on a placement at Walt Disney World in Florida before taking a job as a ride operator at Thorpe Park in the UK. He became Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust in March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Past
Mary Rose was ordered by King Henry VIII as he came to the throne in 1509. Her maiden voyage was in 1511, and she served Henry VIII for 34 years before sinking in The Battle of the Solent on 19 July 1545. All but 35 of the 500 crew died.
Move forward to the rediscovery of the wreck site in 1971, the formation of the Trust in 1979 and the decision to excavate and raise the ship and over 19,000 artefacts. On 11 October 1982, the ship was raised from the depths of The Solent in front of a worldwide audience estimated at 60 million. Her excavation and raising remains the world’s largest underwater recovery of its type. The ship and her collection offer unparalleled insight into life 500 years ago and represent the largest Tudor collection of its type anywhere in the world. The ship and many thousands of her artefacts are on display in a purpose-built museum in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Present
How do things look? As Dominic says: “I started my career in attractions, working on a rollercoaster and sometimes, I feel I am still on it. We have come through COVID but as the Mary Rose receives no core government funding, we remain reliant on visitors and fundraising to sustain our operation.”
He continues: “This hasn’t stopped us, we have introduced immersive experiences, bringing the Mary Rose story to life. Dive The Mary Rose 4D opened to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the raising and allows visitors to experience what it was like to be a diver on the wreck site.”
He added: “We have had to work creatively and dynamically to ensure the future of the Mary Rose.
What began during the pandemic as a groundbreaking joint venture between the Mary Rose Trust and the National Museum of the Royal Navy has blossomed into the award-winning Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Operations Ltd., revolutionised through strategic operations, marketing and ticket sales.
Today, this partnership continues to evolve, uniting with Portsmouth Historic Quarter to reimagine the Historic Dockyard through collaborative efforts in storytelling, site interpretation and community engagement.”
The Mary Rose has an award-winning learning programme and has recently completed a successful community engagement programme called Anchored in the Community. Made possible by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, it has enabled the Mary Rose to work collaboratively to engage and inspire new audiences – those that wouldn’t normally visit the museum or engage with history.
Future
Dom continues: “Our five-year plan is all about lasting financial sustainability with objectives to help us deliver this. We will continue to develop the Museum so that the Mary Rose and her stories are around for future generations. Our next plan, ‘Mary Rose 2.0’, will focus on the stunning ship hall – which is truly unique – alongside other developments within the Museum itself. We hope to open the starboard side (the complete side of the ship) to the public, so watch this space. There is no doubt that the Mary Rose’s story will always continue as new research and findings on the Ship and the collection uncover what we know about life 500 years ago. We know elements of the bowcastle, the front of the ship, remain on the seabed, so potentially we will return to the wreck site in future years.”
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