The building was previously used as an air-raid shelter during WW2 and later as an archive and also as Gosport Council's Cold War bunker; it was converted into the museum from 2010 by a team of volunteers. Evidence of free-diving goes back to thousands of years BC, since pearls and Red Sea coral were found in some Pharaohs' tombs; and the idea of using a diving bell was known at around 330 BC in the time of Alexander the Great. More recent bells were invented around Europe for various purposes, but mainly for salvage from wrecks. In 1690, Edmund Halley, of comet fame, built a wooden bell with lead weights and a glass window, and used barrels that could be pulled inside to release fresh air into the bell. Halley could dive to 60 feet for 90 minutes using his bell. John Lethbridge in 1715 built a diving 'dress' or capsule, similar to a horizontal barrel, with a window and leather-sealed arm-holes. This enabled him to successfully salvage large amounts of treasure from various wrecks. Periodically, the device would be pulled to the surface for the air to be topped up using bellows, before the capsule was lowered again.
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