Blake Lapthorn acted for The Mary Rose Trust in securing a permanent home for the Mary Rose and its collection of artefacts in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

The Portsmouth real estate team provided legal advice to the Trust and, after months of negotiations, secured a permanent home for King Henry VIII’s warship and her artefacts in the Historic Dockyard, with the signing of a new lease for 75 years with Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust.

The Mary Rose Trust is entering into a building contract for its new museum, a £35 million project supported by a £21m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. While the hull has been temporarily withdrawn from public view to enable the new construction work to start, the Mary Rose Museum remains open to the public throughout the construction period.

Once complete in time for the Olympics in 2012, the new Mary Rose Museum will be a key visitor attraction within Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Andy Peck, a partner with Blake Lapthorn's Portsmouth real estate team, added: "The new museum will be a major attraction in the Historic Dockyard sitting alongside HMS Victory."