Hayling Island

Trip Start Jun 11, 2008
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Trip End Aug 15, 2008


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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

This morning we went into Portsmouth to revisit the "Mary Rose".  This ship was the pride of Henry VIII's fleet for over 30 years until more guns were added to its upper deck.  The combination of their extra weight, more crew and a sudden wind squall is now thought to be the reason it sank.  In its museum we spoke to one of the volunteer divers.  He helped in the retrieval operations for the Mary Rose for 17 years, until 1982 when it was finally raised.  He even found one of the cannons.  One fact we thought interesting was that it could take 260 men to raise the anchor!

After lunch, at which Roger and Jenny's daughter Rachel joined us, we went to Fishbourne to see the remains of a Roman Palace.  While Roman artefacts had been found over the years it wasn't until 1960 when a trench was being dug that the magnitude of what was there was realised.  Unfortunately a main road and several houses had already been built over what is now known to have been larger than Buckingham Palace HMS Warrior, Portsmouth, Hampshire
HMS Warrior, Portsmouth, Hampshire
 .  The Romans are thought to have started on this site about 43 AD; initially timber structures for storing grain but later this huge structure, which would have been an important staging post for the Romans advance through southern England and it is believed to have been the residence of a local "client king".  It has incredible mosaic floors with different patterns.  The archaeologists can tell that the walls were also heavily decorated with paint and marble, though there are little of the walls remaining.

Now you can see the mosaic floors, the underfloor heating channels, the remains of the bath house and the gardens, which have been laid out following the original layout.

On our way home we stopped at another seaside village, Bosham, with its ancient church, the burial place of the daughter of one of the very early (pre Norman invasion in 1066) kings, King Canute.  Then home for another delicious home cooked dinner.
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