Welcome to this consultation page which considers the past, present and future of the Trafalgar Tavern. The Trafalgar Tavern has new owners who are determined to care responsibly for the historic and architectural character of the Tavern. They believe this responsibility requires them to upgrade the premises to serve better the needs of modern Greenwich. So, please consider this history, background and ideas for the future, and let us have your reactions.

May 2005 update:
The applications for the addition of flats were granted planning and listed building consent at committee on 5th May.
The external works application for the placing of tables and chairs outside the Tavern was refused despite compromises in the proposal, on grounds of reduction of free flow for pedestrians, loss of a parking space and noise despite a clear officers’ recommendation for approval. An appeal was lodged for a hearing scheduled in March 2005. A further application was made without the compromises previously required and was resolved to be granted in October 2004. The appeal was withdrawn and the works are in hand.

April 2004 update:
The external works proposal has been further amended and with works limited to the introduction of removable bollards at the request of the Council. The rooftop proposal is confined to the introduction and addition of flats with a less modern treatment (more the influence of English Heritage than anyone else!) as illustrated immediately below and at the very end of the page.
Both applications have been recommended for approval and were due to go before the planning committee on 15th April but have now been put back for the early May committee.

January 2004 Update:
APPLICATIONS HAVE NOW BEEN MADE FOR REFINED DESIGNS FOR THE RESURFACING TREATMENT OF THE END OF PARK WALK AND THE KNUCKLE, FOR THE ALTERNATIVE ADDITIONS OF HOTEL ROOMS OR FLATS. A FORMAL CONSULTATION BY THE LONDON BOROUGH OF GREENWICH TOOK PLACE IN OCTOBER 2003.
FOLLOWING RESPONSES AND DISCUSSIONS WITH OFFICERS THE SINGLE-STORY FLATS OPTION HAS BEEN ADOPTED WITH ITS APPEARANCE AMENDED TO BE IN A MORE TRADITIONAL FORM. THE SCHEME IS UNDERSTOOD TO BE RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL AND IS ILLUSTRATED IMMEDIATELY BELOW. PREVIOUS MATERIAL FOLLOWS.

MINOR CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE KNUCKLE. NO APPLICATION HAS YET BEEN MADE FOR THE PONTTON.

– Brian Waters
Architect, The Boisot Waters Cohen Partnership

Please email your comments to: trafalgar@bwcp.co.uk and check the website as the project progresses.

Click here to see Consultation responses & press

Click here to see New pontoon option

please keep scrolling down…

In 1805 France increasingly dominated the continent. Eyeing Kent from Boulogne, the Emperor Napoleon dreamed of the naval superiority he needed to conquer Britain. During October, the French and Spanish fleets broke the British blockade to reach Cadiz. Thinking they faced only a small British force, Napoleon ordered them to leave port. But on October 21st -Trafalgar Day -they sailed into Nelsons waiting fleets and were torn to shreds. Eighteen enemy vessels were lost. Britain lost not a single ship. Nelson died knowing he had won a massive victory.
The Battle of Trafalgar secured the seas for Britain and her allies, and was a decisive turning point in the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon realised -between a battle lost and a battle won, the distance is immense and there stand empires-. So, in Greenwich, where Nelsons body lay in state and many of his sailors later found sanctuary, it was natural that – more than 30 years after the great sea battle – a new riverside hostelry should be proudly called… The Trafalgar. Now, nearly 200 years later, it is time to look forward and to restore the Tavern to its former glory as the second centennials of the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelsons heroic death approach in 2005.

The plans show landing steps, the subdivision of the Nelson room, separate access to the Dreadnought wing and room, the ground floor passage and the principal stairs which are narrower than todays. There are also similarities – the entrance portico, balconies and window openings. auction particulars 1890

…1895……

..1933

Policy & context :

The Trafalgar Tavern is a listed building. Apart from the extension which was built within a few years of the original Tavern, it falls within the World Heritage Site whose boundary therefore, oddly, falls within the building. Relevant policies of the Greenwich Town Centre Strategy, 2002-2012 and the reference to the Tavern in the World Heritage Site management plan, October 1999.

POINTS ON WHICH YOUR COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

  • added paving near the knuckle;
  • provision of riverside deck or ferry pier, or relocate the existing pontoon;
  • adding hotel rooms or adding rooftop flats;
  • tidy up existing roofline.

Some options, including replacing the existing untidy roof-floor and maybe emphasising the symmetry of the main original building with a small additional floor. The upper floors of the Tavern might provide hotel rooms, as it once did, or a small number of flats, also a previous use. Administrative offices and storage space would be replaced.

The following illustrations show these options.

Replacement floor seen from knuckle

Replacement roof level seen from Island Gardens

and with additional small floor seen from knuckle…

…and from Island Gardens where it emphasises the symmetry of the original building.

Plan of the new floor providing flats

Plan of the new floor providing hotel rooms

Plan of small additional second roof floor providing hotel rooms

Improving the setting: increased paving at the end of Park Row near the knuckle:

Three possibilities for enhancing the relationship with the river:

pontoon relocated

………. ………………………………………deck…

ferry pier

Small deck replacing pontoon with access for small craft (option 4)
A FURTHER OPTION IS UNDER DISCUSSION. THIS IS SIMILAR BUT THE BOATS WILL MOOR ALONGSIDE THE DECK AND THE EXTENSION FOR LOW TIDE IS OMITTED.

KNUCKLE A PLANNING APPLICATION WAS MADE IN JULY FOR THE RESURFACING OF THE END OF PARK ROW AND THE THRESHOLD TO THE KNUCKLE AMENDED PLAN OF DECEMBER 2003:

Latest view from Park Row above, from the knuckle, below.

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THE TEAM

Riverwood Taverns Ltd (Greenwich Inc)

Architect The Boisot Waters Cohen Partnership
Studio Crown Reach 149a Grosvenor Road London SW1V 3JY
020 7828 6555 trafalgar@bwcp.co.uk www.bwcp.co.uk

Designers Richard Daniels Design PLC
The School Hall 10 Wiseton Road SW17 7EE
020 8767 8428 afraser@rddplc.co.uk srowell@rddplc.co.uk

Engineers Marks, Heeley & Brothwell
The Stables Cannons Mill Lane Bishops Stortford Herts CM23 2BN
01279 465900 general@mhb.co.uk

Please email your comments to: trafalgar@bwcp.co.uk and check the website as the project progresses .

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Consultation responses & press