In 1805 The Earl of Abergavenny (an East Indiaman sailing ship) sank in Weymouth Bay, resulting in the tragic loss of 263 lives. Portland Museum has curated a fascinating collection of finds from the wreck, and, with the help of the local community, will soon be bringing these to life in digital form, enabling new audiences across the world to discover the ship’s treasures.

To help make this work possible, the Museum is offering a rare and rewarding opportunity for local people, aged 14+, to come onboard and volunteer as part of the project team.

As a project volunteer you will have the opportunity to get hands on with the objects and learn a brand new set of digital skills, from 3D scanning/photography of the objects themselves to the cataloguing of information related to each find, writing condition reports and populating a new website with the resulting 3D images and interpretations.

The training is being supplied by the museum’s partners, NAS (Nautical Archaeology Society) and MSDS Marine and will be fully accredited.

This is a wonderful opportunity, not only for those with an interest in maritime archaeology but also for those wanting to acquire a new set of transferable skills, enhance their CV and job prospects (including those with the heritage industry) or simply support their local museum to bring an exceptional story to a wider audience.

Volunteers would be expected to commit around a couple of hours a week for the process of scanning, recording and uploading to web the finds. This can be discussed with the museum.

There will be two phases to the training and recording: the first, in the early part of the spring (up until April); the second, during the autumn (September and October). The second phase will be a replicate of the first.

In between these times and during the summer, the Museum will be getting out and about with NAS and MSDS to deliver a range of outreach activities.

Anyone interested in volunteering can email the Portland Museum or pop into the ICA office and we will pass your details on to them.