The Trafalgar Way - The Admiralty

Plaque 1- THE/TRAFALGAR WAY /DESTINATION- THE ADMIRALTY/On Monday 21st October 1805 the Royal Navy decisively defeated a combined /French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on the south coast of Spain/The victory permanently removed the threat of invasion of England/by the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte/The first official dispatches with the momentous news of the victory, and the /death in action of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson , were carried to England/on board H M Schooner PICKLE by her captain/Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere /Lapenotiere landed at Falmouth on Monday 4th November 1805 and set out/"express by post-chaise " for London , following what is now The Trafalgar Way ./He took some 37 hours to cover the 271 mile journey, changing/horses 21 times, at a total cost of £46 19s 1d/Lapontiere delivered his dispatches to the Admiralty at 1 am on Wednesday/6th November . The news was passed to the Prime Minister and the King/at once and special editions of newspapers were published /later the same day to inform the public/Erected by the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council on 9th September 2005/to mark the inauguration of the Trafalgar Way from Falmouth to London/and /to honour the 18,425 men who fought at Trafalgar/for the Freedom and Independence of this nation.; (the names of the way stations on the map are as follows FALMOUTH TRURO , FRADDON , BODMIN, LAUNCESTON , OKEHAMPTON , EXETER , CROCKERWELL .HONITON , AXMINSTER , BRIDPORT , DORCHESTER , BLANDFORD FORUM , WOODYATES , SALISBURY , ANDOVER , OVERTON , BASINGSTOKE , HARTFORDBRIDGE , BAGSHOT , STAINES , HOUNSLOW , LONDON , ADMIRALTY) Plaque 2-OLD ADMIRALTY BUILDING/In the mid 16th century this site was the timber yard for the nearby Whitehall Palace./In 1560 Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, leased the land to/"buylde a convenient house", which later passed to his son, Viscount Wallingford,/becoming known as Wallingford House.//In 1622 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the Lord High Admiral,/purchased Wallingford House and so began an association between the site and/the direction of the Royal Navy that lasted for some 350 years. Sir Christopher Wren/recommended this site for the first planned Admiralty Office, which opened in 1695./The builder, John Evans, became Navy Board Purveyor but his building/soon failed to meet the Admiralty's growing needs.//The present building was designed by the Master Carpenter, Thomas Ripley, and/completed in 1726 (at ab "Expence that hath very much exceeded the Estimate"), /becoming known as Ripley Block.//The screen wall facing Whitehall was designed in 1760 by the great Scottish architect/Robert Adam. In 1826 "in" and "out" side entrances were added to allow easier/access for the carriage of the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV,/but the screen was restored to its original condition in 1923.//The building contains the room where Nelson's body lay overnight 8th/9th January 1806, /before his funeral./ It also contains the Admiralty Board Room, a survivor from Evans'/building of 1695, with its finely carved ornamental, attributed to Grinling/Gibbons' workshop, depicting ancient nautical instruments.//The Board Room boasts an imposing table, with a cut out portion to accommodate/the Secretary and his papers. The wind dial, controlled by a vane on the roof, and the carving have survived from the 1695 building. The room was expertly/repaired after being damaged by a bomb in World War 2.//From here the worldwide affairs of the Royal Navy were run for centuries by/"The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty" until they were replaced, on the/formation of the Ministry of Defence in 1964, by the "Admiralty Board/of the Defence Council". The Board still occasionally meets/in the Old Admiralty Board Room.