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By Laura Joint
For over a century, The Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth has been the training establishment of choice for a succession of kings and princes.
But its key role in the history of the British navy might not be enough to save it from defence cuts. Opened in 1905, it has served the country for 105 years, training many of the navy's top admirals. BBC Devon looks at its history and importance to the Royal Navy - and to Dartmouth. Perched majestically above the River Dart, The Britannia Royal Naval College is among the finest buildings in Devon. It comes as no surprise to learn the man behind it was also responsible for the facade of Buckingham Palace. Architect Sir Aston Webb was commissioned to design the naval officer training college. It followed an announcement from the First Lord of the Admiralty in 1896 that a new college would be built. Tenders for the building of the college were requested in 1900 and the successful firm was Higgs and Hill, with a winning tender of £220,600. King Edward VII laid the foundation stone in 1902 and the college - on a hill called Mount Boone - was opened in on 14 September 1905. But why was the college built here in the first place ? The building replaced the previous 'home' of the training college - HMS Britannia and HMS Hindostan, two ships which had been based on the River Dart for 42 years.Among the early cadets, in 1877, were Prince Albert Victor - grandson of Queen Victoria - and Prince George - later King George V.
As early as 1875, mutterings had been made about switching naval training onshore, after concern was expressed about the health of the cadets due to overcrowding and poor sanitation. Dartmouth was chosen as it was well away from the distractions which were available in more obvious ports, such as Plymouth and Portsmouth. The land on which BRNC was built was owned by the estate of Sir Walter Raleigh - a gift to the Devonian seafarer from Queen Elizabeth I.
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