Head to St Nicholas Church, tucked down a quiet sidestreet in Deptford, and you’ll see a pair of huge stone skulls above crossed bones on its gateposts. It’s thought that these ghoulish sculptures were the inspiration behind the famous Jolly Roger skull-and-cross-bones pirate flag. So, it’s fitting that just up the road in Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum is putting on a huge exhibition unearthing the truth behind the infamous swashbuckling sailors. Pirates will trace the changing depictions of pirates through the ages and reveal what the brutal reality of pirate life was like behind the mythologised fictionalised accounts we’ve all grown up with.
Explore piracy in popular culture – from comical characters like Captain Pugwash and Captain Hook to anti-heroes like Long John Silver and Captain Jack Sparrow, the global history of piracy and issues of modern piracy facing seafarers today. You’re in for a buccaneering time, me’hearties.
