The Isle of Wight Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum

The Shipwreck and Maritime Museum was founded in 1978, and had been an ambition of the owner, Martin Woodward, since he first started diving on shipwrecks in the 1960s. Martin, a professional diver by trade, has amassed a huge collection of artefacts personally recovered by him from under the sea, and he is still actively diving on wrecks and archaeological projects worldwide.
Often asked why he had accumulated such a large amount of undersea treasures, his reply has always been the same. Basically, he felt a moral obligation to keep the collection together, as it is such an important part of our underwater and maritime heritage.
He has personally recovered the majority of the collection from waters around the Isle of Wight, although some artefacts are from other locations both in UK and overseas.