Mary Rose Trust launches schools time capsule competition

When it was raised from the seabed of the Solent in 1982, the wreck of Henry VIII’s Flagship the Mary Rose was already well known as a Tudor time capsule.

In excess of 19,000 artefacts were recovered from the remains – and many of them will be going on display at the new Mary Rose Museum in 2012 in time to mark the 500th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the ill-fated ship.

To mark the occasion the Mary Rose Trust is challenging schools and youth organisations to create their own time capsule of eight items to represent everyday life in the UK in 2011.

The team at the Trust have already come up with objects from the collection that in their view represents life on board the Mary Rose 500 years ago. They include a wooden spoon, a nit comb (complete with Tudor nits), a gold coin and rosary beads.

Now the race is on to find out what young people think represents life in 2011.

The winning entry will be buried in the floor of the new Mary Rose Museum during a special ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone on March 18 2011. The winners will be invited to attend and given £500 to buy educational resources.

• Download the official entry form from the Mary Rose website

• Completed forms to arrive by 4:00pm on Friday 18 February 2011.