An information board “Docklands Heritage – Deptford River Walk” gives a good introduction to the area so we have transcribed it.
“For at least five centuries Deptford’s history was bound up with the Royal Navy. Deptford and Deptford people had a key role in building and repairing Navy ships and providing food and supplies for the men who sailed them.
Royal ships were being repaired at Deptford as early as 1420, but the town’s importance was secured in 1513 when Henry VIII established a ‘Great Storehouse’ for the Navy here. From this grew the Royal Naval Dockyard, or ‘King’s Yard’ where, between 1545 and 1869 some 350 Navy vessels were built, including HMS Neptune, Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, and many more were repaired. Over the years the Dockyard also saw many famous visitors, including Queen Elizabeth I, Samuel Pepys, and Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, who spent three months learning English shipbuilding techniques here in 1698. After the Dockyard closed in 1869 the site became a Foreign Cattle Market for a time. It is now in commercial use and there is no public access."
The second half of the information board is about the Victualling Yard so we have placed that text there.
Our image is from Greenward's 1827 map.
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