Admiral Horatio Nelson - Church Plain, Great Yarmouth, UK
N 52° 36.603 E 001° 43.561
31U E 413736 N 5829655
This plaque, presented by the Great Yarmouth Archaeological Socitey, indicates that Nelson, whilst styaing at the Wrestlers Inn was made a freeman of Great Yarmouth.
Waymark Code: WMQ8A2
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/08/2016
Views: 2
The plaque, that is attached to the north facing wall of the building, is inscribed:
Admiral Horation Nelson on the
6th November 1800 following his
victory at the Battle of the Nile &
whilst staying at the "Wrestlers"
Inn, was made a Freeman of the
Borough of Great Yarmouth.
Presented by
Great Yarmouth Archaeological Society
The Great Yarmouth Maritime Heritage website tells us:
The town was an important naval base throughout the Napoleonic Wars, and Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson who was born at Burnham Thorpe in north-west Norfolk in 1758, landed at Great Yarmouth on three occasions prior to his death in 1805.
When he landed at Great Yarmouth after the Battle of the Nile in 1798, he was given a hero's welcome and carried to the Wrestler's Inn on Church Plain. There he was presented with the Freedom of the Borough, and legend has it that when the town clerk was administering the oath he noticed that Nelson's left hand was placed on the Bible and exclaimed, "Your right hand, my Lord!", "That," replied Nelson curtly, "is at Tenerife". Another story goes that the landlady of the Wrestler's Inn asked Nelson if she could rename the pub, 'The Nelson Arms' in his honour. Nelson replied, "That would be ridiculous, seeing as I have but one".
Following Nelson's death at Trafalgar in 1805, an appeal was launched to raise funds for a worthy monument. In 1819, a column was erected in the South Denes area of the town in memory of this great admiral - 30 years before the column in Trafalgar Square. At 144 feet, Nelson's Monument, or the Norfolk Naval Pillar as it is also referred to is only slightly shorter than its counterpart in London.
The building, no longer a public house, is Grade II listed with the entry at the Historic England website telling us:
Public house. Late C18, extensively rebuilt and truncated in C20 after bomb damage.
Red brick with burnt headers under a machine-tiled roof. 3-storey facade to the north; 3-window range. C20 public house facade composed of 3 pairs of Roman Doric columns framing windows with perpendicular and arched glazing bars. Right and left are doorways. Three 9/9 horned segmental sashes to the first floor, under gauged arches. Gault brick platband at second floor. Three 6/8 first-floor sashes. Eaves cornice with paired modillions. Gabled roof, hipped to the west. Stack on front roof slope. East and west return walls rebuilt C20, the former with a shaped gable. West return has a C20 bow window to the ground floor, a C20 Venetian first-floor window and a 6/6 second-floor sash.
INTERIOR: main bar with a moulded fire surround. West bar with a frieze of late C20 paintings depicting scenes from the life of Lord Nelson, who is reputed to have addressed the populace from here on 6 November 1800 after having received the freedom of the borough.