Nelson’s Cabin Emptied for Next Stage of Repairs

This month, Head of Conservation at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Diana Davis, shares some exciting plans for Admiral Nelson’s cabin as conservation works to the hull progress into the Great Cabin area, located on the starboard side of the ship. 

The conservation considerations behind protecting Nelson’s bed replica and cabin during The Big Repair 

In May 2025, our conservators began removing the furniture from Nelson’s Cabin. This is to ensure the furniture is safely out of harm's way while the planking and frames are restored. 

What is in Nelson’s Cabin?

Currently, the cabin contains two guns on gun carriages, a commode, a washstand, and, most importantly, a replica of Nelson’s bed. 

The bed was replicated in 2016 from the 19th-century original, which is in the collections store at the museum, where storage conditions are better than on the ship.

The bed is adaptable, and has been designed to be folded up and stowed away, or moved around. It could be set up as an armchair, partially folded out to make an easy chair, or fully laid out as a bed with a tented canopy overhead. 

How realistic is the replica of Nelson’s bed?

In 2015, the team partnered with a freelance expert to research contemporary illustrations and upholstery styles around the year 1805 when Nelson would have used this. The museum could then recreate the elements of the bed that are now missing from the original, mainly the canopy and soft bedding. To make the replica as authentic as possible, the bedding was made from scratch with the appropriate techniques, such as hand-stuffing the mattresses and hand-stitching the blankets, as well as embroidering Nelson’s own monogram on the sheets. 

There are a lot of layers assembled in a particular order that make up the bedding as Nelson would have used it, including details like a watch-pocket, under-blanket, bolsters, and several layers of sheets and blankets. 

What are the team of conservators doing to protect the bed? 

Conservators and shipkeepers have to regularly check and treat the bed to make sure it isn’t attacked by insect pests such as moths, but until now, the bed had not been removed from the ship since it was installed in 2016. 

So as we remove it, the conservators must make sure to record how all the layers are assembled to make sure it can be re-installed when the hull works are finished. 

In the meantime, all the different blankets, sheets and pillows will be frozen, cleaned and packed to make sure they are stored safely and there are no signs of pests or mould in the fabrics. 

When will the furniture return to the cabin?

The bed will be reinstated in the bed cabin during the next phase of the project, expected in about 18 months.

Want to see The Big Repair take place in real time?

HMS Victory remains open to the public, where visitors can continue to get onboard the ship, as well as have unprecedented access to the three storeys of the scaffold, where they can watch conservation project take place in real time. 

To find out more about HMS Victory: The Big Repair, visit our dedicated information hub, where we share the latest project updates, milestones, and stories.