Friends of the Whitworth Pilkington Lecture 2026: the Mighty Mary Rose

Join the Friends of the Whitworth to hear Director of Collections at the Mary Rose Museum Portsmouth, Eleanor Schofield on the challenges of studying and protecting ancient wooden warships, and the enlightening process of conserving Henry VIII’s Mary Rose shipwreck.

📅 Thursday 3 September 2026

⏰ 6:30pm - 8pm (join us at 6pm for a complimentary glass of wine)

📍the Whitworth

🎟️ Book your tickets now

Speaker Bio

Dr Eleanor Schofield is Director of Collections at the Mary Rose Trust, where she leads on all aspects to do with caring for, understanding, displaying, and interpreting the collection. She has led the conservation effort at the Mary Rose since 2012, including implementing all the monitoring techniques and associated research projects. She is a Chartered Engineer and Scientist, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

As featured on Radio 4 ‘The Life Scientific’ with Jim Al- Khalili.

Members of the Friends of the Whitworth should log in on the Friends of the Whitworth webpage to book tickets.

✨This event is organised by the Friends of the Whitworth , the registered charity that supports the vital work of the Whitworth✨

If you're interested in joining the Friends, click here for more information - and chat to the committee at the event!

If you are attending and require BSL interpretation, please notify us by emailing whitworth.events@manchester.ac.uk by Monday 24th August.

Image courtesys of Mary Rose Museum: Mary Rose Museum Re-Opening ©Hufton+Crow; Harvey Mills, Mary Rose Trust

About the venue

The Whitworth is an accessible venue with facilities to support you during your visit, and alongside this our visitor team will be on hand to assist you in the gallery. Find out more about planning your visit to the Whitworth and accessibility information for you. If you’d like to speak to a team member about any access or additional needs, please get in touch with the gallery and we will be happy to assist you. Contact: whitworth@manchester.ac.uk or telephone: 0161 275 7450.