Conservation Plan 3 Significance.pdf - National Maritime Museum

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Cutty Sark Conservation Plan vol. 3: Significance Restoration / Reconstruction 1953 – 1957 20 of 107 In September 1949 the College offered Cutty Sark to the National Maritime Museum, who declined, pleading lack of resources and the restrictions placed on the institution by its establishing Act of Parliament. London County Council set up a committee (under Chairman of the General Purposes Committee of the Council) of experts to investigate the preservation, berthing and use of the vessel. The first meeting of the Cutty Sark Steering Committee was held on 19 May 1950. Cutty Sark was moored on buoys at Greenwich as a floating exhibit for the duration of the Festival of Britain in 1951 but there is no evidence that she was open to the public at this time. At the end of the Festival she was returned to her moorings at Greenhithe. The original Steering Committee gained charity status as the Cutty Sark Preservation Society in October 1952 and this became the Cutty Sark Society in 1955. (In 1989 the Society merged with the Maritime Trust which had been founded in 1969.) On 28 May 1953 Cutty Sark was formally handed over to HRH the Duke of Edinburgh who received the vessel on behalf of the Society. On 18 February 1954 she was moved from her moorings at Greenhithe to the East India Import Dock. On 22 February 1954 construction of a new purpose-built dock began at Greenwich, thanks to a contribution of £170,000 from the London County Council. The last pile was driven and the foundation stone laid on 3 June by the Duke of Edinburgh. Cutty Sark was placed in the new dock on 10 December 1954.
Public Resource 1957 onwards Cutty Sark Conservation Plan vol.3: Significance A programme of major reconstruction, restoration and adaptation was then undertaken which lasted until June 1957. The intention was to restore her to her appearance in 1872, when she was a tea clipper but the crew’s accommodation had moved from the fo’c’sle to deckhouses. She was to have running as well as standing rigging, to give the best possible impression of a fully rigged ship, albeit without sails. The replacement philosophy was like-with-like. Despite post-war austerity, the restoration of the Cutty Sark secured funding and sponsorship in excess of £300,000 (equivalent to around £4.8 million in today's money). The emotional return of the Cutty Sark to Greenwich truly captured the imagination of the British public, fired by the media frenzy that accompanied the story. The ship was feted by national newspapers, and Richard Dimbleby's live coverage of the opening ceremony performed by HM The Queen in June 1957 had an equivalent to the impact of the floating of the Mary Rose two and a half decades later. Early editions of the children’s programme Blue Peter used images of the ship in its opening titles. Since opening to the public more than 14 ½ million visitors have paid to visit her. So successful was the ship as an attraction that she contributed a significant amount of her operating surplus to the restoration of the 21 ships acquired by the Maritime Trust. These exceeded £1m (equivalent 21 of 107
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Conservation Plan 3 Significance.pdf - National Maritime Museum

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