Page 122 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022

tee appointed to examine the issue looked at 32 sites in all. As with the consideration in 1802 for the location of the purpose-built new Royal Mili- tary College (finally chosen as Sandhurst), there were criteria for the location of the new Naval College. These included general salubrity, supply of water, closeness of a harbour for both boat- ing and bathing, access to the sea, absence of ‘special temptations’ (the very reason the old Britannia was moved from Portsmouth in 1862), access by rail and closeness of a naval port.
Dartmouth was finally chosen, the health and welfare of cadets being a major consideration. Back in the 1870s, the town of Dartmouth was considered free of those ‘special temptations’, as indeed it is still so considered today, espe- cially by other countries sending their cadets for training to BRNC. Although the site had been identified and agreed by the Admiralty by 1877, it took many years before building actually took place partly due to financial constraints and also due to difficulties with purchasing the site from the Raleigh Estate. Although the Admiralty ini- tially had good relations with the Estate, these soured during negotiations resulting in the invo- cation by the government of the Defence Act of 1842 for compulsory purchase in 1897. It is understood that should the Navy ever vacate the site, then it will be offered back to the Raleigh Estate for the original purchase price.
Sir Aston Webb (1849 – 1930) was appointed by the Admiralty as the architect of the new College. He was one of the country’s most respected architects having already designed some notable public buildings including the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, and the Victoria Law Courts in Birmingham. After Dartmouth, he was again employed by the Admiralty in 1911 to design Admiralty Arch in London. It was an inter- esting time in building design with the trend from the more aggressive Gothic Revival style of Vic- torian architecture giving way to a more graceful
eclectic Edwardian period of design combining both architects and artists (as with the Arts and Crafts movement).
Higgs and Hill were appointed as builders with a successful submission of £220,600 being the biggest contract they had ever won. Building commenced in 1898, but it was not until 1902 when the foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII, accompanied by Queen Alexan- dra travelling non-stop by train from Padding- ton to Kingswear (on the opposite bank of the River Dart to Dartmouth) at an average speed of around 60mph, a remarkable achievement in 1902. The locomotive hauling the train had been renamed Britannia for the day and fitted with special brass nameplates made at GWR’s works in Swindon.
Because Dartmouth at the time, even although originally accommodated in the two floating hulks, was essentially a public school for mainly well-off middle-class boys destined for the Royal Navy, Sir Aston Webb’s design reflected that idea with the inclusion of a great hall (now known as the Quarterdeck), central tower, dormitories, sick quarters, dining hall, chapel and teaching and recreational facilities. A central library was not in the original design specification, but one was added in 1933. The original design was to accommodate 260 cadets, but due to changes introduced around the time of building by the Selborne Scheme (see below), cadet accom- modation was increased to 390 cadets during the initial building phase. The site sits 180 feet above the River Dart sloping steeply down to it both to the south and east. To accommodate the landscape of the site, the College is a series of terraces barely visible from the front elevation.
The Selborne Scheme (1905 – 1945)
Named after the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Selborne (but in fact the brainchild of the Second Sea Lord, Sir John Fisher who was responsible
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