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Melville

Melville

The commanding heart of Royal William Yard.

Rising at the front of the marina basin, Melville is Royal William Yard’s grand centrepiece — an imposing vision of naval ambition completed by 1832 at a cost of over £40,000. Named for Lord Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty (1812–1827), this stately structure embodied the Yard’s purpose and status, anchoring the whole site around its classical symmetry and commanding views from Mount Wise.

Architectural grandeur and function

Materials: The building’s prestigious status was reflected in its smart Cornish granite façade, while more practical Plymouth limestone was used for the rear.

Importance: So central was Melville’s role that all other Yard buildings were positioned symmetrically on either side.

Original role: Inside, it housed not only vast general stores but also the Yard’s administrative brains: offices for commissioners, clerks, and the secretary, plus special rooms for meetings, messengers, and official business. Ready-made naval clothing was stored here.

Long service: Melville fulfilled its original functions nearly unchanged right up to the Yard’s closure in 1992. In the 1970s, it even hosted a modest museum on its first floor, showcasing naval memorabilia, copious log books, and uniforms – including a giant pair of shorts with a 54-inch waist and a pair of size 17 boots!

The clock tower:

a masterpiece of Victorian engineering

Standing sentinel above it all is the iconic turret clock, completed in 1831, designed by the renowned clockmaker Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy. Made up of 1,393 finely-crafted parts, it was driven by weights and governed by a teak pendulum stretching 14ft – requiring winding just once a week. Vuillamy would later submit his designs for the new clock in the Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster after the 1834 fire, but his plans for what became ‘Big Ben’ were ultimately not chosen. Still, his meticulous drawings remain preserved in the Parliamentary Archive.

The Melville legacy

Melville’s historical resonance goes even deeper. Its namesake’s family history is a tale of British naval politics: Lord Melville’s father, the first Lord Melville, was briefly First Lord of the Admiralty before being impeached for misuse of public funds – famously becoming the last person in British history ever to be impeached, though later acquitted.

Despite his father’s impeachment, Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, went on to become First Lord of the Admiralty himself in 1812, just a year after inheriting the title.

Today, Melville stands as a testament to the sophistication, order, and enduring prestige of Britain’s naval might – a building with stories as intricate as its famous clockwork, and just as central to the Yard’s rhythms as the striking of its hours.

Hear Florence Lancey talk you through a working week in the Melville building and life at Royal William Yard in the 1900s

September brings new voices to the yard — more recordings coming soon.

Historical Plans & Images

Image References

Image 1 - View of Melville Building from the Marina (Royal William Yard Archive)
Image 2 - View of Melville Building from the Marina (Royal William Yard/ Real Ideas History Exhibition 2018)
Image 3 - Melville Courtyard Stores (Royal William Yard Archive/ Chris Robinson)
Image 4 - Inside the Melville Stores (Royal William Yard Archive/ Chris Robinson)
Image 5 - 9 - Sir John Rennie (National Archive, Kew)