SECRETS from one of Hampshire's most hidden historical artefacts have been brought to the surface after lying on the bed of the River Hamble for centuries.

A study of Henry V's shipwrecked vessel Grace Dieu has brought valuable clues to the mystery of the giant warship that was first launched from Southampton in 1418.

The doomed warship was the biggest of its kind in the world, and at 250ft long and 50ft wide its construction has baffled historians and archaeologists for decades.

How it came to be at the bottom of the Hamble is also a remarkable tale, as the warship sank after being struck by lighting while it was moored on the shoreside in 1439.

Now the challenge of unravelling its mysteries is one that television's Time Team has taken on.

Presenter Tony Robinson who fronts the Channel 4 archaeological programme, told the Daily Echo: "We won't know for some months the results of what we uncovered because what we found is actually a small part of the research.

"We really didn't know what to expect to find, and even with sophisticated equipment diving was difficult because we could only see about six inches in front of us and in the waters of the Hamble we only had a diving window of three hours."

Mr Robinson, who donned a diving suit to get a close-up look of Grace Dieu himself, added: "The wreck is of great historical importance as very little is known about the construction of ships at that time and Grace Dieu really was a remarkable ship.

"It was the Queen Mary 2 and Ark Royal of its day, and it terrified the Europeans because it was so big."

The shipwreck has been an ongoing study by the Southampton Oceanography Centre and the University of Southampton since the university purchased it 35 years ago for just £5 from the Ministry of Defence.

Director of the university's Centre for Maritime Archaeology Dr Jon Adams said finding out how the ship was constructed was very important.

"At 250ft long, 50ft wide and weighing 1,400 tons, Grace Dieu was three times bigger than the largest vessels in this period.

"It was not a simple case of scaling-up using existing methods of construction - the builders would have had to use new techniques that only now have been revealed."

Grace Dieu will be featured in tomorrow's episode of Time Team at 5pm on Channel 4.