Iona Godfrey-Faussett talks to James Davey, expert speaker on 'Maritime England', one of MRT’s newest tours, focused on the English monuments, ships and sites that best illustrate the history and significance of Britain’s sea-faring past.

'I am so excited to be leading this tour! As a former curator, and now a university lecturer, I love talking about Britain’s maritime past and am thrilled to have this opportunity to share my expertise.'

The tour focuses to a large extent on the 18th century, but there is also a lot more to it. Could you let us into some of the other subject areas or particular points of interest within the itinerary?

Yes absolutely – this tour is designed to tell the story of ‘Maritime Britain’ across the last five centuries. So, we will obviously be focusing on the 18th and 19th centuries when British naval and maritime power was at its height, but we will also be exploring its earlier history, and consider more contemporary subjects too.

The start of the tour concentrates on the 16th and 17th centuries, when England was but one European power attempting to exploit the maritime world. We’ll explore the Pool of London and visit the Docklands Museum, the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory, all of which reveal that disaster was as common as victory in these years. Perhaps most significant and poignant is the concluding visit to the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth. This is, in my opinion, the most remarkable cultural heritage site in the country. Not only is it an amazing archaeological story, it’s also a fascinating social history museum that gives real insight into the lives of 16th-century mariners.

As we tour maritime Britain, the centrality of the sea to the contemporary world will also be evident. It remains a key part of Britain’s national identity, and throughout the tour we’ll be thinking about the legacies and relevance of this maritime past.

Clockwise: Buckler's Hard, Hampshire; HMS Victory; The Ropery, Chatham Dockyard; HMS Warrior

What are your personal highlights or stand-out visits of the tour?

I think it’s the contrasts that I’m most excited about. We will get to visit the finest museums in the country – especially the National Maritime Museum and Mary Rose Museum. Unlike many other nations, Britain doesn’t have a ‘National History Museum’, but given the importance of the sea to its past, I always think these institutions essentially serve that function.

I’m keen that we don’t spend the whole trip inside, though – it will be August after all! At Chatham Dockyard and Buckler’s Hard we’ll get to explore the built environment of Britain’s naval past, hopefully while also enjoying some sunshine. These settings were the engines of British naval power: not only did they produce vessels that came to dominate the world’s oceans, but they were also sites of remarkable industrial and scientific invention. We’ll also investigate fortifications along England’s south coast and learn about how the sea was a source of fear and anxiety for Britons, as well as opportunity.

Perhaps most importantly we’ll also get to step aboard our most treasured cultural heritage: the ships themselves. HMS Victory is perhaps the most famous vessel in British history following its role in the Battle of Trafalgar, but participants can also board the Warrior, which is in many ways a more impressive technical feat.

All in all, it’s a unique assembly of carefully chosen sites, many off the beaten track, that won’t be found in combination anywhere else.

You were previously a curator at the National Maritime Museum – what are you most excited about sharing with people there?

I was, and I’m going to be able to give a real ‘behind the scenes’ insights into the museum. I was the lead curator of the ‘Tudor and Stuart Seafarers’ gallery, and the co-curator of the ‘Nelson, Navy, Nation’ gallery, so will be able to give in-depth, expert tours of those displays. I’ll be able to show off some of my favourite objects – incredible works of art, the personal possessions of 18th-century sailors, and a mass of material culture that demonstrates how the maritime world came to mean something, even to those Britons who lived miles from the sea.

More than that, though, I’ll be able to explain some of the complex decision-making that goes into museum curating. Who decides what themes to focus on, what stories to tell, what objects to display? There’s a range of considerations here, including the fragility of objects, the strategy of the museum, and the views of the gallery designers, and I’ll be able to talk through the difficult decisions that curators must make. At a time when Britain’s past is increasingly a topic of debate, talking about how that past is presented becomes even more important, and I’m excited to hear the views of those taking part in the tour too. 

'Maritime England' departs 27 August–2 September 2024.

Cover image: The Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, Richard Brydges Beechey, 1881.
Buckler's Hard: Mike Peel; HMS Victory: Ballista; HMS Warrior: The Wub ©