The Museum
While the Mary Rose was being excavated, around 20,000 artefacts were found in the wreck.
The majority of these were cleaned and recorded aboard the diving vessel, bought some, particularly things like chests and their contents, would be bought ashore to be excavated under more controlled conditions.
After an artefact had been sent ashore, the "Finds Department" would process it. This included making sure it was stored correctly, cleaned, passing it on to be drawn and photographed, and finishing off the recording. The artefacts passed from the Finds Department to Conservation. Led first by Howard Murray and then by Dr Mark Jones, the Mary Rose Conservation Department helped pioneer many of the techniques used in the preservation of waterlogged materials.
The conservation process varied depending on the type of material being treated. Wood was generally treated with Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) and then freeze-dried. Other objects, such as the bricks from the galley, were simply washed free of salt over a period of time and allowed to air-dry.
More delicate artefacts required careful conservation and restoration. This applied particularly to items such as the Barber-Surgeon's hat.
This unique treasure trove of Tudor artefacts needed to be housed somewhere. It wasn't possible to house them with the ship, there was no space around the drydock available at the time. Fortunately there was a building available, close to Victory Gate. This was No.5 Boathouse, a historic wooden building in its own right.
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