Archaeology Discover Centre

After the wreck of HMS Pomone was discovered at The Needles in 1969, the Isle of Wight Council funded a team to research and excavate the site.Medland, p. 52 In 1984 another wreck was discovered immediately offshore of Yarmouth and work began excavating that site as well. In 1990 the Isle of Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology was founded and began operating a museum at Fort Victoria called the Maritime Heritage Exhibition. Several finds from the excavations were displayed in the museum, whilst others went to the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth and Bembridge Maritime Museum.

In 1991 the Trust expanded into the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, a charity which went on to investigate more maritime archaeology in the local area and discovered the site of Bouldnor Cliff in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6928293.stm|title=Fight on to save Stone Age Atlantis|publisher=BBC| date=2007-08-08|access-date=2010-04-13}} The Trust refurbished the museum which was re-opened in 2006 as the Underwater Archaeology Centre.{{Cite sign|title=The Underwater Archaeology Centre|date=2006|medium=Plaque outside museum|publisher=The Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology|location=Fort Victoria}} In 2013 it was renamed Sunken Secrets. In 2017 the ownership of the centre passed into local hands.

Shipwrecks: The shipwrecks exhibition explores why there are so many wrecks in the Solent area, why wrecks are seen as acting as time capsules of the past, and displays finds from Trust excavations.Burdett & Insole, p 113 It includes the stories of HMS Pomone, HMS Invincible, the Yarmouth Roads Wreck (believed to be the Spanish Galleon Santa Lucia), and other wrecks at the Needles and Alum Bay.{{cite web|title= Sunken Secrets - Current Exhibitions|url= http://sunkensecrets.hwtma.org.uk/currentexhibitions|publisher= Maritime Archaeology Trust|access-date= 2013-04-10|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130427105202/http://sunkensecrets.hwtma.org.uk/currentexhibitions|archive-date= 27 April 2013|url-status= dead}}

Submerged landscapes: The submerged landscapes exhibits explain the history of the Solent as a dry river valley before rising sea levels flooded it and created the strait that exists today. It focuses on the Trust's excavations at Bouldnor Cliff and includes artefacts recovered from the sea bed.

The Sunken Secrets/Archaeology Discovery Centre exhibition closed permanently in 2019, Artefacts on display have been relocated to the Maritime trusts Shipwrecks exhibition at Arreton barns on the Isle of Wight. The Building that housed the exhibition at Fort Victoria has been converted into a combination of Gift Shops and Exhibition Space.

• Maritime archaeology
• Underwater archaeology
• Shipwrecks

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=David Burdett & Allan Insole|title=Discovering an Island - The roadside heritage of the Isle of Wight|year=1995|publisher=The Isle of Wight Society/Island Books|isbn=1-898198-12-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/discoveringislan0000unse}}
• {{cite book|first=J|last=Medland|title=The Making of the Wight - An illustrated history of the Isle of Wight|year=2007|publisher=The Isle of Wight Beacon Ltd|isbn=978-1-904149-14-9}}

• [http://sunkensecrets.hwtma.org.uk/ Sunken Secrets]
• [http://www.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/ The Maritime Archaeology Trust]
• [http://www.fortvictoria.co.uk Fort Victoria]

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Category:Maritime archaeology

Category:Museums on the Isle of Wight

Category:Maritime museums in England

Category:Archaeological museums in England

Category:Defunct museums in England