9th
September 2003 -
Newport Mediaeval Ship
CONSERVATION CENTRE
for NEWPORT SHIP
...News Update...
9th September 2003
TIMBERS MOVED TO
DEDICATED CONSERVATION CENTRE
In future years the Newport Mediaeval Ship will prove to be one of Newport's greatest assets drawing visitors from across the world. It may be 10-15 years before we are able see once again the ship in its full glory but, its eventual reconstruction will reward this international interest and the phenomenal commitment of the local community who have campaigned for it.
In appointing Mary Rose Archaeological Services to prepare a Conservation and Management Plan for the vessel, council leaders have demonstrated a commitment to finding an appropriate solution. So we welcome the recent news that MRAS has been successful in their argument for the development of a dedicated conservation resource here in Newport. A large industrial building has now been identified and the ship will now be safely relocated ready to start the complicated process of recording and conservation.
A national shortage of conservation and freeze drying facilities for wood means that Newport will now have the largest specialist conservation facility for waterlogged wood here in the UK. The facility has the potential to become a national centre that would not only satisfy the requirements of the Newport ship but would also provide a continuing source of income for the project by taking in other conservation work from elsewhere in the country. It is planned to open the facility to the public who will be able to observe the post excavation recording and conservation processes at close hand.
Newport City Council is to be applauded for its courageous decisionto secure the future of the project once and for all. The strategy is intended to satisfy the expected 10 year timescale needed for recording and conservation before the ship can be placed on public display.
Pictures show ship timbers being moved to new storage facilities at the Newport Conservation Centre
To read the full Conservation Plan proposed by Mary Rose Archaeological Services
click here
...Background News Update...
16th June 2003
Mary Rose team to advise on conservation problems
- but the ship will have to be moved first!
One year on since the remains of a mediaeval ship was first discovered Newport City Council has announced that MARY ROSE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES has been appointed as its archaeological advisors with a brief to prepare a management plan for the conservation of the ship's timbers. The process is expected to take more than 10 years before the ship will be ready to put on public display. The plan will comprise ten stages each stage to be individually contracted on an incremental basis.
Charles Barker, Mary Rose Archaeological Services
The initial contract for the first stage will be to prepare an advisory report on the nature of the conservation problems and the various treatment options available - this is expected to take about 3 - 4 months.
Charles Barker, the Director of MRAS said "...I want to consult everyone who has an interest in the ship in Newport and to get the best ideas from home and abroad. Germany, Denmark and Holland have all done a lot of work on early ship conservation and we want to get the best practice available from around the world."
Over 1700 separate pieces of timber have now been recovered and are now stored in water tanks at the local Llanwern steelworks. There is some concern about sulphur deposits in the timbers and embedded iron that is know to react adversely to PEG treatment. The timbers are in varying states of preservation and different conservation regimes will need to be adopted depending on the state of the individual timber.
This will require that a separate conservation plan be prepared for each piece of timber to ensure success and minimise distortion as it dries out. Barker anticipated that a range of techniques might be employed including:
- PolyEthyleneGlycol saturation (PEG)
- Freeze Drying
- Combination PEG and Freeze Drying
- Air Drying
Future stages will involve Recording of the timbers through drawing, photography and digital scanning to enable direct input to a computer and the use of a 3D-Cad programme to produce a three dimensional virtual reconstruction. Analysis of the timbers will have to be conducted to establish their structural integrity and chemical contaminants.
Newport Council's efforts to preserve the mediaeval ship should be applauded. It will, in future years, prove to be one of the city's greatest assets drawing visitors from across the world. Its eventual reconstruction will reward this international interest and vindicate the phenomenal commitment of the local community who campaigned so tirelessly to save it.
The Friends of the Newport Ship believe there should be no compromise in the effort to properly conserve and display it in a manner that befits its world-importance. In appointing Mary Rose Archaeological Services to prepare a Conservation and Management Plan, council leaders have demonstrated their commitment to finding the best solution. It will be a hugely expensive project but one that will reap immeasurable benefits for the community of Newport and raise the City's standing in the eyes of the world. Initial indications from the Mary Rose team suggest that the cost could well exceed £30Million (45 Million USDollars).
Timbers will have to be moved again!
Iain Varah, Newport City Council
Journalists attending the council press call raised questions about the expected life of the present storage facility at Llanwern. It is with some dismay that we heard of the recent Corus decision that the timbers must be moved once again. On being questioned by the press about the security of present arrangements for storing the ship timbers, Iain Varah - the council officer responsible for the ship - admitted they would have to be moved from their temporary home at the CORUS Llanwern Steelworks on the outskirts of Newport. He commented that Corus had been very helpful and that the timbers would be moved to another building at the same site.
A spokesman for Corus said "the present ship facility was needed for a new business enterprise but a similar building on the same site had been made available for the timbers." Corus is pleased to be associated with the project and had no immediate plans to terminate the relationship." Newport Council had been given a three month rolling lease on the building with a nominal "pepper corn" rent of only £1 to cover insurance."
Comment from the Friends of the Newport ShipA move to yet another temporary store can only disrupt the recording process and is bound to lead to further damage and loss of information. Newport City Council should now 'bite the bullet' and secure the future of the project by leasing a suitable 'permanent' facility that will satisfy the expected 10-15 years required for recording and conservation of the timbers.
There is a huge national shortage of conservation and freeze drying facilities for wood that means that the Newport timbers may have to be transported to York or Portsmouth for treatment. Why not develop such a facility in Newport? It could be a national Centre for Conservation of Waterlogged Wood that would not only satisfy the requirements of the Newport ship but would also be a continuing source of income for the project.
Charles Barker of Mary Rose Archaeological Services believes there is a need for such a centre where the conservation process could also be observed by the public. It would be a fascinating tourist attraction, similar in nature to the Welsh Centre for Alternative Technology or the Liverpool Museum's Conservation Centre and would help satisfy the huge local public interest in the ship. It would be a "state of the Art" research centre in conservation techniques and could attract substantial external finance if properly managed.
To read Press reports Click Here
