Mary Rose tudor ship receives £250K to help 'financial peril'

Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose has received £250,000 of National Lottery funding to help it survive "financial peril" caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the trust that owns it said.

Portsmouth's Mary Rose Museum shut to the public in March due to lockdown.

The closure lead to the loss of 84% - £2.4m - of its annual income, which is generated by visitors between April and August, the Mary Rose Trust said.

It described the cash as a "beacon of hope".

The Mary Rose Trust said the cash, which was awarded from the National Lottery Heritage Fund's £50m Heritage Emergency Fund, would "help it survive the financial peril caused by the Covid-19 crisis".

The charity, which receives no government or public funding, added: "The Mary Rose was quickly in jeopardy, as the majority of costs to care for the internationally significant collection continue despite public closure."

More than 80% of the museum's staff were furloughed but the cost of keeping the 500-year-old ship and its artefacts "are extremely high due to the need for specialist staff and complex systems and equipment", it said.

The trust added the annual cost of caring for the collection was £2.2m.

The Tudor sank in battle in 1545 and was raised from the Solent in 1982, along with 19,000 artefacts.

Up to 500 men and boys died when it sank and the museum, which has had more than 10 million visitors, has been dedicated to them.