Historic figureheads on wall of HMS Nelson's wardroom at Portsmouth's naval base could be removed

The HMS Martin and HMS Seaflower figureheads have adorned the building since 1906 but a report warns that issues of cracked paint and corrosion are worsening and conservation work is required.

National Museum of the Royal Navy, which owns the two sculptures and has loaned them to the Ministry of Defence, has applied to Portsmouth City Council for permission for their removal which is required due to the listed status of the building.

'The figureheads are in poor condition and conservators have recommended they be removed to allow for their repair and to lessen the speed of their deterioration,' a heritage statement submitted on behalf of the museum says, warning that their fixings had corroded and they were now unstable.

'Cracked and peeling paintwork on the figureheads has exposed the timber substrate underneath which may now be decaying,' it adds. 'There is also large amounts of vegetation growth on both figureheads.'

The HMS Martin figurehead was mounted on HMS Martin, built as HMS Mayflower, which was one of the last wooden warships built and used as a training ship until its demotion to a coal hulk in 1907, ahead of its launch from Pembroke Dock in 1889.

HMS Seaflower was one of five training vessels launched in 1873. The ship was a workshop in 1904 before being laid off four years later.

Should permission be granted by the council, it is planned that lead flashing, which is thought to be accelerating the figureheads' declining condition, would be removed and restored with dressed limestone.

After conservation work is finished the figureheads would be put back on display inside the wardroom.

The council has set itself a deadline of October 13 on whether to grant listed building consent for their removal.

Discussions had been held between the city council and hotel operators about taking over the wardroom which was earmarked for sale by the government in 2016.

However, these stalled when, in 2019, the Ministry of Defence gave the building, and almost 100 others across the country a stay of execution until at least 2023.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, the council's leader, said plans for the future of the building had gone ‘back to square one’.