Sharing the Story Behind The Big Repair
Connecting People with HMS Victory: The Big Repair
This month, Rebecca Parrant, Interpretation Manager at the Royal Navy Museum, explains how interpretation helps visitors discover, understand and enjoy HMS Victory: The Big Repair, both on site and online.
Helping people connect with HMS Victory during The Big Repair
HMS Victory: The Big Repair is about far more than conserving a historic ship. It is also about helping people understand the significance of the work taking place and the stories hidden within the vessel herself.
The team behind the scenes helping visitors make sense of The Big Repair
When most people think about HMS Victory: The Big Repair, they picture shipwrights, conservators and riggers working high within the scaffold. Fewer people see the team quietly working behind the scenes to help visitors understand what they are looking at in the first place. My role as Interpretation Manager is to work with specialists across the project to transform research, conservation and technical knowledge into experiences that visitors can enjoy and understand. Whether through exhibitions, films, interpretation, live talks or digital content, our aim is simple: to help more people connect with HMS Victory and the extraordinary project preserving her for future generations.
What have visitors told us they enjoy most?
One of the clearest messages from visitor feedback is that people are fascinated by the team behind The Big Repair. Visitors enjoy hearing directly from the specialists carrying out the work and gaining insight into skills required by the project. The opportunity to witness conservation in real time, ask questions and discover how decisions are made often becomes the highlight of a visit.
How are we responding to that feedback?
This insight has helped shape initiatives such as our Meet the Team programme, which gives visitors opportunities to hear directly from conservators, shipwrights, archaeologists and other specialists. We are also exploring ways to build on this approach and create even more opportunities for audiences to engage with the people behind the project in the future. By putting the team centre stage, we can help visitors develop a deeper appreciation of both the ship and the expertise required to care for her.
What does the stern walkway add to the experience?
The stern walkway provides a perspective of HMS Victory that previous generations of visitors could never have experienced. From within the scaffold, visitors can see areas of the ship usually hidden from view and gain a closer understanding of the scale and complexity of the conservation programme. New interpretation along the route helps explain what visitors are seeing and reveals some of the stories uncovered as work continues.
What role will the new scaffold wrap play?
The new external scaffold wrap, expected in November 2026, will help create a clearer focal point for visitors arriving at HMS Victory and improve wayfinding around the site. While the scaffold remains an essential part of the conservation programme, the external wrap will help visitors better understand that the ship remains open and that they can still explore both HMS Victory and The Big Repair experience. It will also provide a simple introduction to the project, helping communicate that major conservation work which is taking place.
How are we sharing HMS Victory’s story online?
Not everyone can visit Portsmouth in person, which is why digital engagement is an increasingly important part of our work. Through the HMS Victory Information Hub, we share conservation milestones, project updates, research discoveries and behind-the-scenes stories from across The Big Repair. Our Victory Live film series on the RNM YouTube channel offers another window into the project, introducing the people behind the conservation work and documenting key developments as they unfold.
Together, these platforms allow people around the world to follow HMS Victory’s conservation journey and discover new stories as they emerge.
Why does interpretation matter?
Conservation protects the ship, but interpretation helps people understand why that work matters. Every panel, film, article, talk and visitor interaction is an opportunity to reveal another layer of HMS Victory’s story. Whether someone visits the ship, attends a Meet the Team session, watches a Victory Live film or explores the Information Hub online, our goal is the same: to create meaningful connections between our audience, the ship and the remarkable work securing her future.
