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Margaret Rule, 1928 - 2015

Margaret Rule, 1928 - 2015

Text by Rosemary E Lunn Photos courtesy of Simon Mills and the Trust Dr , 1928 - 2015

Dr Margaret Rule CBE, the British archaeologist who supervised the largest maritime archaeological excavation in history and the subsequent raising of King Henry VIII's warship from seabed, has died aged 86.

The warship Mary Rose was launched in though it was outside her experience. tion of the wreck. Many years of seabed 1511 and served for 34 years as the flag- At the time she did not scuba dive—she searching followed. To begin with Rule ship of Henry VIII’s navy. She sunk, with- was a land archaeologist. Rule had spent a fair amount of time sitting in a out warning, a mere two miles outside previously supervised the excavation of boat, waiting for the divers to report Harbour on 19 July 1545 with a Roman Palace at Fishbourne, near what they had seen underwater. Pretty the approximate loss of 500 men and Chichester in West Sussex. When the soon she realised that the only way she boys. The Mary Rose had been leading Sussex Archaeological Society built a could do her job was was to learn to an attack on a French invasion fleet. Her museum there in 1968, Rule became its dive. 'death' was watched from the shore by first curator. One of the VIP visitors to the The ship was located in 1971. Alex Henry VIII, who was stood by museum was the . This Hildred, curator of the Mary Rose, con- Castle. contact would later prove to be vital to firmed that this was the first time that Dr Margaret Rule's involvement with the . remote sensing technology sub-bottom the Mary Rose began in 1965. Alexander profiling and side scan had been McKee, an amateur diver and histo- Discovery used in England. rian with a passion to find the wreck, In 1966 McKee had a useful break. “We were very fortunate that on the approached Rule for archaeological He came across a chart made by the first dive of the year (5 May 1971), we help. She agreed to be involved even Deane brothers in 1836. It gave the posi- slightly missed our target—the area that we had been searching. We were about 150 metres to the south. Percy Ackland, who I always called our underwater gun dog, came up and whispered to me, 'The timbers are down there Margaret.'” Ackland had found three of the port frames of the Mary Rose. By some miracle half of the had been well preserved by Solent mud. It was as though someone had chain- sawed through the wreck from bow to stern and the entire starboard side of the Mary Rose survived. Maintaining dig standards To begin with Rule was concerned whether land archaeology standards could be maintained under water. Rule told the Telegraph: “But I learnt you work under water with the same care and ingenuity as you do for a land dig. There you put your site to bed, you put a tar- SIMON MILLS

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN / PUBLIC COMMONS WIKIMEDIA paulin over your work... You do the same Historical illustration of Mary Rose as depicted in the Anthony Role record of English Tudor ships Dr Margaret Rule CBE

18 X-RAY MAG : 66 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO The is depicted in this Cowdray engraving by James Basire, with the recently sunken Mary Rose in the center

BELOW: Historical engraving by Frans Huys, c. 1561, shows , similar to All packages include the Mary Rose being attacked by galleys, 7 nights and 6 dive days! which were highly manoeuvrable GRAND CAYMAN CAYMAN BRAC Comfort Suites Brac Resort Ambassador Divers Reef Divers Breakfast daily All meals WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN / PUBLIC COMMONS WIKIMEDIA Free WiFi from $1,185 from $1,449 ••• underwater. You don’t leave your site facts were in the main, in extraordinary safety of the wreck. all our fishermen friends to keep a Cobalt Coast LITTLE CAYMAN open to be disturbed by currents.” condition. On land, organic matter is “Initially there was no way legally of watching eye on it. We formed a Mary Divetech Rule made hundreds of dives on the not always so well preserved and it protecting the Mary Rose when we Rose Committee and we applied Breakfast daily Little Cayman Beach Resort Use of Reef Divers site and would often dive in the tricki- can be difficult to date. first saw her in 1971. We had to protect for a lease from the Crown Estate from $1,310 All meals est of areas and in low Here the team had a her from looters. And so we never left Commissioners, which cost a pound a Use of dive computer visibility conditions. If “"I remember my days definite time line: 19 July marker buoys on site and we alerted year. And having got that lease, we Compass Point from $1,395 the team was hav- 1545. The archaeologists Ocean Frontiers of diving on the ship out 7 day car rental ing a problem decid- knew exactly when the from $1,420 ing something, she in the Solent in the most objects went into the would dive the area silt. And the artefacts and make a decision. impossible conditions, it covered many facets of She would spend her was like swimming in a Tudor life. From thimbles, nights, when everyone kind of lentil soup, you to quills, leather shoes, else had gone to bed, combs, coiled , a reviewing video runs couldn't see anything, or pocket sundial, and a of the site. so I thought, until it was manicure set to name “There is a differ- but some. ence between land under your nose. What I This logistically difficult archaeology and could never get over was and challenging opera- underwater archaeol- tion had other issues. ogy because we, the the sheer expertise of the There was a minefield of archaeology supervi- archaeologists operating bureaucracy combined sors and Margaret as with legal constraints. At director, cannot look under water." the time historical ship- over your shoulder into — Prince Charles on diving wrecks were not recog- a trench and see what the Mary Rose in 2014 nised. Rule fought the is happening every- bureaucrats with tenac- where; you have to rely on feedback ity, which was very much in her char- from individuals,” stated Alex Hildred. acter. She persuaded the government 800-328-2288 and the Receiver of Wreck to entrust [email protected] Excavation the extraordinary collection into the The consequences of finding the ship hands of the Mary Rose Trust. All packages include 7 nights, 6 days of 2-tank boat dives, airport transfers, taxes and service charges. Rates are per person, double occupancy and subject were enormous. It was decided that to availability and standard terms and conditions. the wreck should be excavated in its Protecting the wreck site CSOT#2111993-40 • WSOT#603254369 • FSOT#38781 entirety. The surviving 19,000-odd arte- The other worry was the security and WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / PUBLIC DOMAIN / PUBLIC COMMONS WIKIMEDIA

19 X-RAY MAG : 66 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Dr Margaret Rule with Remnants of the car- Rear Admiral John Lippiett rack Mary Rose undergoing conser- CB CBE, chief executive of vation at the Historic Dockyard in the Mary Rose Trust Portsmouth, United Kingdom

tion work had uncovered Prince Charles told UK media an intact ship structure. about diving the Mary Rose in However, if a full excava- 2014. "I remember my days of tion were to go ahead, diving on the ship out in the it was likely the remain- Solent in the most impossible ing timbers would be conditions, it was like swim- destroyed. The decision ming in a kind of lentil soup, you was taken to raise the couldn't see anything, or so I ship. thought, until it was under your Rule knew that HRH The nose. What I could never get Prince of Wales' interest in over was the sheer expertise of the Mary Rose had been the archaeologists operating crucial in attracting the under water." funds to raise the ship. The The remaining hull was very British Sub Aqua Club's fragile and the technology had- then , Prince not been tried before. The plan Charles—who was also was to pass hundreds of bolts the President of the Mary through the timbers and attach Rose Trust—had dived the them to a steel frame. This would SIMON MILLS wreck site twice in 1979. then be raised onto a cushioned could then defend our patch of Rule told the BBC: “We couldn’t cradle and brought back to mud.” Subsequently on behalf of have done it without him . . . When Portsmouth Dockyard. the Mary Rose Trust, Rule success- he goes down [and] says ‘I’ve fully secured the right to retain the seen it, I’ve seen it with my own Raising Mary Rose exclusive rights of the Mary Rose eyes and it can be brought up’, The raising of the Mary Rose, site. then everyone is supporting us and after its 437 years at the bottom Rule joined joined the Council British industry comes behind us.” of the Solent, happened on 11 MARY ROSE TRUST / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / CC BY-SA 3.0 BY-SA CC / COMMONS / WIKIMEDIA TRUST ROSE MARY for Nautical Archaeology (later the Nautical Archaeology October 1982. The rais- Prince Charles recently des- Tribute Society). This small group of ing of the hull inspired cribed to the UK press the atmos- Chairman of the Mary Rose Trust, archaeologists were determined a number of Brits to phere and technical problems Rear Admiral John Lippiett CB to get a new law in place to help learn to dive and on the day the hull was lifted. CBE DL paid tribute to Rule: “She curb the desecration and loot- many of us remember He explained that the crane made an extraordinary contribu- ing of submerged sites. Rule was this momentous day. used was on loan for only one tion to our nation's heritage. She a key figure in the campaign to An estimated 60 mil- day, and how he had encour- was an extraordinary woman. get the 1973 Protection of Wrecks lion television viewers aged the crew to get on with the Full of resolve and tenacity. Her Act passed. Shortly after the act from around the world job, despite technical difficulties determination was to achieve was passed, the Mary Rose was watched as the Mary including poor weather: “I will against the odds when so many one of the first sites to be desig- Rose emerged from never forget the almighty crash people said this is not possible. nated. Later Rule would become the Solent. Today the as the chains came down and I She would never take no as the a member of the government’s Mary Rose, and the thought it was all my fault. I think answer.” advisory committee on historic 19,000-odd artefacts it was worth taking the risk as we It seems only fitting to leave the wrecks. recovered from the have this truly remarkable exam- last word to Rule: “If I had left her wreck, are housed in a ple of a Tudor warship, which is there, I would have had much Gaining royal support purpose-built museum, unique.” less worried 20 years. But I would What started as an amateur pro- located in the historic Over 5,000 dives were con- not have had the exciting life I ject with virtually no money in the Portsmouth dockyard. ducted by hundreds of volunteers have had meeting such tremen- mid 1960s became a multimillion- They are so well pre- as part of the Mary Rose project. dous people as a of the pound project, thanks in part to served, one could Rule observed that it equated to Mary Rose.”  Rule's passion, determination and never tell they are at "nine man years on the seabed". SOURCES: BBC, FT, GUARDIAN, TELE-

vision. By 1978 the initial excava- 3.0 BY-SA CC / COMMONS / WIKIMEDIA TRUST ROSE MARY least 468 years old. GRAPH, BSAC AND MARY ROSE TRUST Salvage on 11 October 1982 of the 16th century Mary Rose

20 X-RAY MAG : 66 : 2015 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO

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