Portsmouth 100: Our Naval City Festival ⚓

Saturday 3 October 2026 | 10:00 – 21:00
📍 Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Celebrate 100 years of Portsmouth as a city at this FREE one-day festival celebrating the people, places and stories that have shaped our naval city.

Enjoy a packed programme of live music and performances, historic vessels and vehicles, fascinating talks, tours, family activities, food and drink, charity stands and market traders.

⚓ What’s on?

• 🎶 Live music, sea shanties and performances from the HMS Nelson Royal Naval Volunteer Band
• 🚢 Historic vessels and vehicles
• 🎤 FREE talks with academics from the University of Portsmouth
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family activities, including a special Dockyard trail and Have a Go Archery with the Mary Rose
• 🛍️ Love Southsea Mini Market, charity stands and traders
• 🍽️ Food and drink, including traditional naval-inspired fare
• 🏛️ Heritage experiences, tours and activities throughout the day

🏛️ Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust Tour

A special tour with Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust will also be available. The tour is FREE, with a separate ticket option available to book your place. You do not need a ticket to enter the Dockyard or experience the Naval History Festival itself.

🚤 Last chance for a boat trip this year!

Make your festival visit even more memorable with a trip aboard one of our historic vessels. This will be your last chance of the year to get out on the water!

• Landing Craft F8 – £12 adult | £6 child (5-15) | £30 family ticket (2 adults + 2 children) – 30-minute experience
• High Speed Launch 102 – £65 per person – 45-minute experience
• Motor Gun Boat 81 – £130 per person – 1-hour experience

Book your boat trip: tickets.portsmouthhq.org/tickets

🎟️ Admission

Entry to the festival and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard site is FREE. You do not need to book a ticket through Eventbrite to attend the festival – Click here to see the Eventbrite page and book a ticket for the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust

Please note: Free festival entry does not include admission to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard museums and attractions, which require separate admission.

Come and celebrate Portsmouth’s extraordinary naval heritage and discover the stories that helped make it the city it is today.

Saturday 3 October 2026 | 10:00 – 21:00
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard | FREE ENTRY

Dockyard trail map – additional information

1. Warrior

On the Warrior Jetty we can see how thick the armoured plating was on the ship. HMS Warrior was the first ship to be covered in this iron plating and was a technological marvel for the time.

Look at the plating: the ship was covered in 202 panels, each weighing 4.8 tonnes which is about half a T-Rex or a little bigger than a hippopotamus.

How did the ship float with all this metal on it? Why do ships float? Here are some fun experiments to try all about the science of buoyancy!

From this location, you also get a good sense of the dockyard’s position in the harbour. Without the sea, there would be no city! You can see three important towers from this point, all serving different purposes.

The Semaphore Tower was built in 1831 – 33 on top of a Rigging House and Sail Loft. It was the last point on a chain of towers that meant that the Admiralty could send messages from London to the fleet at Portsmouth in minutes. Semaphore is a system of sending a message through using flags: each letter is shown by a different position with your hands. The Scouts have a good resource here: https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/practice-semaphore-signalling/ if you want to have a go yourself.

Semaphore became outdated very quickly, with telegraph replacing it by 1847. The Tower was hit by a serious fire in 1913 but was rebuilt and remains an important building on the dockyard as it houses the offices of the Naval Base Commander and the King’s Harbour Master.

Across the water at Gosport is the Submarine Escape Tower. This local landmark was built between 1949 and 1953 and consists of a large Training Tank that is 100ft long, which can simulate the hazards of escaping from a sunken submarine. The submariners are supposed to make the escape without breathing equipment, a really tricky feat, but an essential part of training for these brave crews. It was used by the Royal Navy but also other crews from across the world, and even by presenters from Blue Peter!

It was officially closed in 2020 and is now preserved as part of Gosport’s important maritime history.

The most modern tower is one of the most iconic sites (and sights) in Portsmouth, the Spinnaker Tower. At 170km high, it is also the tallest of our three landmarks, and is the perfect place to get a bird eye view of the city, and the Solent. To find out more about the history, click here: https://spinnakertower.co.uk/about/history-and-construction/

To find out more about the HMS Warrior, explore these links:

https://historicdockyard.co.uk/attractions/hms-warrior/

https://www.royalnavymuseums.org.uk/visit-us/portsmouth-historic-dockyard/hms-warrior

2. Boathouse 4

One of the only 1930s industrial buildings still in use in the UK, Boathouse 4 remains a working building where boats and vessels are looked after by a team of brilliant volunteers. The cranes that run across the ceiling are still used to move the boats around, so what is on display changes all the time, depending on what is being worked on.

The building was constructed in the 1930s and saw lots of action in WW2. One of the cranes is missing because the steel frame was damaged by a bomb in 1940, whereas the other two are painted in camouflage, because originally, this building didn’t have a roof! It was also where the Navy build ‘midget submarines’, small underwater craft that could sneak in and plant mines on enemy ships without them knowing. The King, George VI, came to visit and recorded what he saw in his diary: ‘In the Dockyard I saw a 3 man submarine in sections. One is already in commn [use]. & has a range of 1000 miles. One man and two man S/Ms are also being constructed.’ (Royal Archives, GVI/Priv/Diary: 30.9.1942; Barrie-Smith, pers. comm. 16.2.15).

You can find out more about this astonishing building here: https://portsmouthhq.org/buildings/boathouse-4

Explore the memorial flotilla that are maintained in and around Boathouse 4 and choose your favourites. Which one do you think is the most important? If you made a museum with these boats, what story would you tell? How would you display them?

Pick up the free postcards available by the welcome desk or explore the fleet on here: https://portsmouthhq.org/charity/heritage/vessels

3. Storehouse 9

This is the last of three great Georgian storehouses that were built in the Dockyard, can you spot the others nearby? It was completed in 1782, though the most recent modification was in the 1970s when they removed the front doors to create the covered walkway that runs along the front of the building now.

https://portsmouthhq.org/buildings/storehouse-9

The gratings conceal the basement, which was used as a prison. Can you imagine what it was like down there?

You could write a diary entry from one of the prisoners, describing your daily life. Think about what it would be like down there, the temperature, the weather, the lack of light, the smell, the food. You might be a prisoner of war, coming from France, the Netherlands, or even the Caribbean.

Outside the northern end of the storehouse is a rail weighbridge, while above it, fixed to the corner of the building are the remains of a crane which transferred goods between rail and the first floor. This was part of the dockyard railway, which is now closed but you can still see the tracks in the pavement as you walk through the dockyard. You can even see remains of it in other parts of Portsmouth, such as the gates on Edinburgh Road.

The weighbridge measured the weight of the goods coming in. It could hold up to 30 tons, which is 3 and a half T-Rexs or 5 elephants. The railway went out to a jetty with a special railway station, built for Queen Victoria to use when she went on her holidays to the Isle of Wight. By the 1960s the use of the dockyard railway was diminishing, finally to close in 1978.

Under the arches of the Storehouse, you can also see a copy of the city’s coat of arms. It is supported by two fantastical creatures: a merlion and a sea unicorn! This is supposed to show how important the sea is to the city. You may have seen some of the special lions around Portsmouth over the summer, celebrating 100 years of being a city. Can you design your own lion? What creatures would represent your school?

https://prideofportsmouth.co.uk/

4. Storehouse 11

As you walk down the dockyard you walk past these three impressive buildings, the great Georgian storehouses. The final one is Storehouse 11, now used as a museum, offices, and a gift shop! On the outside you can see the marks made by the people who used to live and work on the dockyard.

The oldest we have seen is 1800 but since the building was constructed in 1763, there might be earlier that we’ve missed!

The hexafoil is a special mark that looks a little bit like a daisy and was thought to protect the building from evil things happening.

There are lots of other marks around the dockyards – can you spot any on your visit? Look out for the crew marks on the outside of the Mary Rose Museum, all taken from the Tudor objects inside!

Next time you’re in the dockyard, come and explore the galleries inside the Storehouse.

You can find out more information here: https://historicdockyard.co.uk/attractions/national-museum-of-the-royal-navy/

Marks – eg. https://historicdockyard.co.uk/hidden-depths-of-portsmouth-historic-dockyard/

5. Field Gun Memorials

From this point, you can see the historic and the modern dockyard. When the Queen Elizabeth II or the Prince of Wales aircraft carriers are in, they dock in view of here and provide a good contrast to their older counterparts.

We’ve created some top trumps to play with our historic ships and some of the best that the modern navy uses in Portsmouth. How do they compare? Which would you rather use? What are the strengths of the historic ships? You might have to think out of the box, but there are many challenges today that mean that sail power might beat a modern engine!

6. 33 Dry Dock

This is a dry dock, a special basin to build ships in. Henry VII built the first dry dock in England, right here in Portsmouth (either this one or around where HMS Victory is now), and his son Henry VIII used it to build the Mary Rose. It was dug out of the mud, lined with timber, and sealed off from the sea with a wall of rock and clay. This would allow the workers to build the ship and then flood the dock with water by removing the wall so that the boat could float out without needing lots of men or machines to pull the boat to the water.

This dry dock now holds HMS M.33, a submarine from World War 1! This amazing boat has survived over 70 years of active service, including one of the most dangerous battles of the First World War, the Gallipoli campaign. In fact, she’s known as the ‘Lucky ship’ as she survived so long, without any damage. She is the one of only 3 ships that still exist that took part in WW1.

If you look at the dock itself, you can see that the wall on the south side (the side visitors enter from) looks different from the rest of the basin. The dock was hit by bombs during World War II which ‘severely damaged’ it. The dockyard was a key target for the German air force, and this meant that Portsmouth suffered from heavy bombing as well. Can you find out any information about bomb damage near your school?

[Portsmouth museum has a great resource called the Bomb Map – https://portsmouthmuseum.co.uk/collections-stories/80th-anniversary-of-the-blitz/the-portsmouth-bomb-map/]

Can you have a go at building your own warship, just like the Tudors did in the dry dock 500 years ago?

7. Mary Rose Museum

Walking around the bow of the Mary Rose museum, there are a number of marks and shapes carved into the wood. They are all taken from objects in the museum itself, symbols that were scratched into objects by the crew members 500 years ago. Many of our crew couldn’t read or write, so this was one of the only ways they could mark things that they owned. They also used these symbols to bring good luck to their fellow crew mates, or to keep evil spirits out of the beer!

What symbols would you use to mark your things? Can you design your own?

Round the side of the Museum is one of the most recent memorials on the dockyard, the Heart of Oak. This memory tree is for families to remember loved ones who served in the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, or the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Like the marks on the Museum wall, this is a way to celebrate the people who have given their lives whilst serving in the Navy. https://www.heartofoak.org.uk/

There are many ways we can remember the past and the people that are important to us. How do you remember things that are important to you?

8. Mast Pond

The Pond was built in 1665 and was originally used to soak large wooden timbers that would be made into masts. They needed to be soaked otherwise the wood would get cracked and broken. The pond was dug out by Dutch prisoners of war who were paid one and a half pennies a day. However, the local people were unhappy about this and complained! The Dutch prisoners were sent to Portchester Castle and local workers were employed instead.

Now the pond is used for boating for visitors, like many of the historical features of the dockyard. Can you design a new attraction for visitors? What would bring them in? What are we missing from the site that you would like to see? Remember to keep it on theme, keeping it associated with naval history!

9. Muster Pole/Dockyard Apprentice Exhibition

This large metal pole is the old muster pole. There would have been a bell at the top which would have rung at the start and end of the working day, letting the workers know when they needed to come in, and when they could go home.

From the pole, walk into Boathouse 7 and go and explore the Dockyard Apprentice Exhibition. It includes the original bell that went on top of the pole, and there are some interesting pictures showing it in place. What differences can you see between the dockyard then and the dockyard today? What did the people look like? What were they doing? What’s missing?

The exhibition talks about life as a dockyard apprentice. It starts with the chests that the men used to keep their personal belongings – what would you bring in? Did any of your family work in the dockyard? Can you interview them and find out what life was like for them?

If you had to chose something from your life to show in a museum, what would you choose? Could you write a label for it?

10. 19 College Road

This building used to be the home of the Superintendent of the Police for the dockyard. The dockyard was responsible for building some of the most innovative technology used by the Navy during the twentieth century, such as the Dreadnought boats, which meant that the dockyard needed more security! The size and quality of the building indicate the importance of this role.

On the outside, there is a list of the porters that worked on the dockyard, who were based at the white lodge next door. The Porter’s Lodge is the oldest surviving building on the site and would have been where the Porter lived. He was responsible for security, with the Police Superintendent, and for opening and locking the dockyard gates.

Keep walking past these buildings towards the gates at the far end. Through these you can see the original Naval Academy to be built here. This was the first Navy school! On a building nearby is a plaque to Charles Dickens’ father who worked on the dockyard. Charles lived here as a child and is probably Portsmouth’s most famous author.

Dickens’ used his childhood here as inspiration for one of his most popular stories called Nicholas Nickleby. It tells the life of a young boy who struggles with poverty and harsh circumstances as he grows up. Imagine you are 80 years old: write your own autobiography – what has happened to you? Are you still in Portsmouth? Or have you travelled far away? Or write a biography of one of the Porters working at the Lodge. What were their lives like? How was Portsmouth different then?

Gosport

The hidden history isn’t just on the Portsmouth side of the harbour, there is plenty to explore in Gosport as well!

Here are some things to look out for at the sites across the water:

Royal Navy Museum: Submarine

Here you can explore the incredible history of submarines, even exploring a World War 2 vessel from the inside out!

But did you know that submarines were once condemned as ‘pirates’? Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson really didn’t like them, thinking they were ‘underhanded [and] unfair’ in 1901. However, his view didn’t catch on and submarines became essential weaponry on in the twentieth century, and the crews began to wear their pirate designation with pride. They created their own Jolly Roger flags, with symbols for each of their adventures. The Museum has the oldest surviving submarine pirate flag, from HMS E54 which depicts the classic skull and crossbones!

[https://historicdockyard.co.uk/earliest-known-example-of-a-royal-navy-submarine-jolly-roger-to-join-new-display-at-submarine-museum/]

Can you design your own pirate flags? What would you put on it? How would you mark your own achievements?

Royal Navy Museum: Explosion

This site explores the history of explosive weaponry, anything that makes a big bang! The area was built in the 1700s to store munition for the dockyard: it needed to be away from the main dockyard because there was a danger of it blowing up accidentally and destroying the ships. Therefore, a specially built location was found for it in Gosport.

In fact, the King himself (George III) ordered that the land should be purchased in 1750, from a lady called Jane Priddy, who owned it with the Reverend Thomas Missing, a vicar from Fareham. We remember Jane now because the area is still called Priddy’s Hard – a hard is a name for the foreshore – after her!

In the twentieth century, the buildings here were a munitions factory, that made weapons for the forces at war. It was mainly staffed by women, because the men were called up to serve in the armed forces. They were working with really dangerous chemicals, and their skin became stained with the colour of the chemicals they were using. It also made some of them very ill.

Can you find out what colour they went, and what they were called because of it? Imagine what their life was like and how they felt? Can you write a diary entry from their perspective?

Explosion also has an exhibition all about the Night Hunters, the force of small fast motorboats that would attack enemy boats along the coast during WW1 and WW2. The crews of this force were awarded more decorations than any other branch of the Navy for their daring escapades!

Our Gosport sites are a really important part of the story we tell at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and expand the story of the city to the areas that may not be on the island, but still are important facets of how the Dockyard came to be.