Funding Announced To Reimagine Historic Boathouse Including New Royal Marines Museum

The funding will support the ‘Reimagination of Boathouse 6’ Project to transform the magnificent 1840’s Grade II* Boathouse 6 at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, into a home for the new Royal Marines Museum.

Boathouse 6 will also be home to new permanent special exhibition gallery, a Royal Marines Commando-themed Laser Quest Arena, as well as a newly integrated auditorium and conferencing and public programming facility.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) has today (18 July 2024) announced it has been successful in securing Round 1 Development Funding* from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to progress its ‘Reimagining Boathouse 6’ project at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. This critical funding and the support in principle for the £4.9m funding will enable NMRN to realise its long-held ambition to bring the story of the Royal Marines to the Dockyard.

NMRN has now secured funds and pledges totalling over £6M. If successful at the next Heritage Fund phase, NMRN will need just £3.5M to fully fund the project.

The Royal Marines are the nation’s elite amphibious force who deploy at sea and on land, around the globe, in peace and in war. The new museum will take visitors on a compelling journey through four centuries of Royal Marines history - from the creation of its forerunner in 1664 to today.

The amazing objects, exhibitions, galleries and hands-on experiences will inspire by showcasing remarkable personal stories, immense teamwork and qualities of resilience that can help us all navigate today’s complex and often demanding world. 

Visitors will be able to follow the story across the ground floor of Boathouse 6, choosing to explore through an active immersive route and / or through an object rich multi -media exploration of the history of the Corps. The intention is that the story of the Royal Marines will be told in a truly active and engaging way, enabling visitors not only to learn about who the Royal Marines are (past and present), but also inviting them to partake in a number of tasks designed to give a taste of the level of physical and mental fitness required to do the job. Displays and their content will draw on examples past and present and will put the Royal Marines ethos at the heart of the story. 

Boathouse 6 will also house a new dedicated Special Exhibition Gallery. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - which is operated by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in partnership with the Mary Rose Trust and features in the top forty UK visitor attractions (according to Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) and the top three paid attractions in England outside of London - attracts over 870,000 visits to its paid attractions. However, it has never before had a dedicated temporary exhibition space. 

This new extraordinary, compelling and flexible space inside the historic former boathouse and overlooking the Scheduled Monument and Grade 1 Listed Mast Pond will measure 400m² and will be one of the biggest temporary exhibition spaces in the South of England. This will enable the Museum to stage temporary exhibitions that refresh the offer at the Historic Dockyard and can attract new and different audiences, create opportunities for wider partnership working and explore a wide range of arts, culture and heritage narratives. 

The Royal Marines Museum (a part of the NMRN) closed in 2017 due to the irreversible deterioration of it's previous home at Eastney Barracks.  The intention was to move the collection to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and create a new Marines focused offer.  However, the new museum project stalled after a failure to secure the required funding. In the intervening years NMRN safeguarded the 2 million items from the Royal Marines collection in a specialist £2m state-of-the-art Collections Centre whilst it revisited its plans for a permanent exhibit for the Corp’s story. 

Matthew Sheldon Chief Executive Officer for the Museum says “The National Museum of the Royal Navy is ecstatic to have secured round 1 development funding for the reimagination of Boathouse 6. This project will bring a set of incredible new visitor experiences to the Dockyard enhancing our offer and encouraging visitors to return time and time again. Core to this is the opportunity to explore the experience of Royal Marines Commandos. This story is central to that of the Royal Navy and therefore to the purpose of the Museum and we want to use the latest interpretative and digital techniques to really bring the endeavour, courage, and conflict inherent in that service experience to life.”

Stuart McLeod, Director England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support the National Museum of the Royal Navy with this important project. The Re-imagining Boathouse 6 project will ultimately deliver a world-class, immersive and experiential museum, preserving the important heritage of the Royal Marines for many generations to come. We know that heritage can play a huge role in bringing people together and creating a sense of pride in people’s hometowns and cities, and in turn boosting the local economy, and this museum will be a fantastic example of that. We look forward to working with the team to progress their plans to apply for a full grant"

The National Museum of the Royal Navy has worked in partnership with representatives from the Royal Marines on the development of the project, keen to ensure that the new displays will reflect the reality of the modern service experience and not just the rich and varied heritage. 

 

“The ethos of the Royal Marines, so important to the morale and fighting spirit of the Corps, is built on the challenges, the achievements and the legacy of our forebears.  Today’s Royal Marine is the embodiment of the Commando Spirit - the Courage, the Determination, the Unselfishness, and the Cheerfulness in adversity - all learnt from their predecessors and the Museum is a vital part of that inheritance.  The Museum will create a sense of place where members of the Royal Marines Family can connect with their history and each other.” General Gwyn Jenkins, Commandant General Royal Marines

The project still requires £3.5M funds to be realised and the Museum is actively seeking further support to realise the full ambitions of the project. 

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