1807 to 2007 historic cannon reinstalled at Greenwich

Laura Wilkinson

22 October 2007

The Greenwich Foundation unveiled the latest addition to the Old Royal Naval College – a 5.2 tonne Turkish bronze cannon, 200 years after it was first installed on 21 October 1807.

The cannon was originally presented to the Royal Naval Asylum (which in 1821 became the Greenwich Hospital School) by its patron, HRH Prince Ernest, Duke of Cumberland, to mark its formal inauguration exactly 200 years ago, on 21 October 1807 (Trafalgar Day). The cannon is one of two captured by Admiral Sir John Duckworth from the island of Kinaliada in the Sea of Marmara in 1807. It bears an Islamic inscription dating it to 1790-91 (AH 1212) and an English one commemorating the founding of the Asylum. In 1933 the School moved to Holbrook in Suffolk and renamed the Royal Hospital School; its Greenwich buildings are now the National Maritime Museum. The large cannon moved with the School and has remained at the School’s entrance until today.

The unveiling took place on Saturday 20 October in the presence of Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, Duncan Wilson (Greenwich Foundation), Deputy Mayor Cllr Steve Offord and Deputy Mayoress Jacqueline Offord (Greenwich), Martin Sands (Greenwich Hospital), David Charlton (Royal Hospital School) and Nicholas Hall (Royal Armouries) with the Royal Hospital School Corps of Drums ceremonially 'beating' in the cannon.

The barrel was cast in 1790-91 in the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Selim III. The cast-iron display carriage was made later by the Royal Carriage Department of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich and its decorative plaques mark British naval victories including the Battle of the Nile and Trafalgar. It is likely that it was originally presented to the Asylum to commemorate the great sea-battles that had created the need for such a school for children whose fathers had fallen in battle as seamen in the Royal Navy.

The return of the cannon has been made possible by the Greenwich Hospital who provided the financial support for its movement and conservation. This new display at the Old Royal Naval College marks the beginning of the redevelopment of the current visitor centre into a new interpretation and education centre – Discover Greenwich – which will open in autumn 2009 with hands-on activities, historic artefacts, physical and virtual recreations.

Issued 9 October 2007
For additional details and images contact Laura Wilkinson:
020 8269 4763 / 07890 314499 / lwilkinson@greenwichfoundation.org.uk

Notes to Editors
1. Brief Site History
The Old Royal Naval College began life as Greenwich Hospital, which was established in 1694 by Royal Charter for the relief and support of seamen and their dependants and for the improvement of navigation. Sir Christopher Wren planned the site, described as "one of the most sublime sights English architecture affords", and, during the first half of the eighteenth century, various illustrious architects, such as Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, completed Wren's grand design.

In June 1705, the first Pensioners arrived and, by 1814, a total of 2,710 lived there. For three days in 1806, 5 – 7 January, Admiral Lord Nelson ‘lay-in-state’ in the Painted Hall. Huge crowds were admitted (estimates range from 15,000 to 30,000) in a renewed outpouring of grief since the victory at Trafalgar. On the morning of the 8 January Nelson’s coffin was borne to the River where it was taken in a huge procession up the river to St Paul’s Cathedral for his state funeral. In 1869 the Hospital was closed, and in 1873 the complex of buildings became the Royal Naval College, where officers from all over the world came to train in the naval sciences. The Navy moved out in 1998 to merge with the RAF and Army at a new Joint Services Staff College in Shrivenham.

With the departure of the Royal Navy from Greenwich, responsibility for the Old Royal Naval College passed to the Greenwich Foundation. The Foundation is a registered charity established to look after, interpret and provide public access to the buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation. The Discover Greenwich project is a further step towards enhanced engagement and interpretation of the site and its history alongside the development of the whole Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.

2. Royal Naval Asylum at the Queen’s House:
In the 18th century the Queen’s House was the royal ‘grace and favour’ residence of the Ranger of Greenwich Park, but in 1806 George III granted it as a new home for a naval orphanage school called the ‘British Endeavour’, founded in Paddington in 1798. At Greenwich this became the ‘Royal Naval Asylum’, and flanking wings and colonnades were added to the Queen’s House to accommodate it (1807-12) to the designs of Daniel Asher Alexander. The whole project owed its success to the energetic patronage of the Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851), the soldier fifth son of George III, and from 1837 King of Hanover. The full building Asher’s wings took a number of years but about 50 boys moved into the Queen’s House in the summer of 1807. By 1815 the Asylum accommodated 648 boys and over 200 girls, the former generally destined for sea careers and the latter for domestic service, though the education of girls ended in 1841. In 1821 the Asylum’s name disappeared when it was incorporated with the separate and older Greenwich Hospital School under control of the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich. This was formally renamed the Royal Hospital School in 1892. The cannon is shown in various 19th-century photographs of the School at Greenwich. Since 2000 there has been a small permanent display in the Queen’s House about its former history as the Naval Asylum/ Royal Hospital School.

2. The Royal Hospital School
The Royal Hospital School is an HMC co-educational boarding school for 685 pupils aged 11 - 18. It is maintained by the ancient Crown Charity Greenwich Hospital established under Royal Charter by William and Mary in 1694. The Corps of Drums is an integral part of the School marching and concert band, undertaking concert performances and marching displays in addition to School Divisions held fourteen times a year. The wearing of Naval uniform is a tradition that goes back to when the school was based (until 1933) in what is now the National Maritime Museum.

3. Greenwich Hospital
Today Greenwich Hospital provides charitable support to serving and retired men and women of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and their dependants. It does this through sheltered housing, pensions and grants to naval charities. The Hospital still owns the Royal Hospital School, a co-educational boarding school principally for the children and grandchildren of naval and other seafaring families. The Hospital also makes some other educational grants.

4. Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site
Maritime Greenwich was inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) by UNESCO in 1997. Greenwich is recognised for its cultural heritage; the grandeur and sheer beauty of its buildings, the magnificent vistas and views across London, its royal history, its naval and sea-faring history and its scientific accomplishments.
For more information visit www.greenwichwhs.org.uk