...a warning to other ships.
The bell of the Mary Rose was found just outboard of the Sterncastle, having been wrenched from its housing as the ship sank or collapsed there at a later date. The ship’s bell had two main purposes - to communicate time as measured by an hourglass and as a warning to other ships.
The bell is cast in bronze. It has a total height of 221mm, including the suspension loop and an external dimension of 208mm at the mouth. It weighs just over 5 kilos. The average thickness of the metal is 15mm
The ship’s name was not found on the bell, the only markings were from the maker and the casting date. An inscription around the top in Lombardic script in Flemish reads “I was made in 1510”. It is believed the bell was made in Mechelen near Antwerp, in what is today Belgium.
The ship's bell is generally considered to be synonymous with the identity of the vessel to which it belongs, but names are unknown on ship's bells before the end of the 18th century.
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