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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Mary Rose
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(Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth) Oak warship built for *Henry VIII at Portsmouth in 1509–10, and rebuilt there to an enlarged size of 700 tons in 1536. She was swamped and sank in 1545, just 2km/1.25m off Portsmouth harbour, when sailing to engage a French fleet. Her wreck was first discovered by pioneer divers in 1836; and in 1982 the surviving timbers of her hull were lifted, in a most delicate operation, from the sea bed. An entire side has been preserved, with projecting fragments of its deck timbers, offering a fascinating cross section of the interior of an early warship. Relics of the ship's contents are also on display – among them eating utensils, musical instruments, gaming boards, fragments of clothing, longbows and cannon.
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