ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 38, 14 August 1939, Page 7

ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGE

OFFICERS' MESS

A VISIT BY THE KING

PAINTED HALL RESTORATION

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London = . Representative.)

LONDON, July 13,

In the ancient Painted Hall at Greenwich, which was designed by Wrea in 1698 and completed in 1706, the King dined at the Royal Naval College officers' mess this week, the first time such an honour has been conferred upon the, psess. The Painted Hall has recently been restored by the Office of Works and the Admiralty. The King travelled seven miles down the Thames, from Westminster to Greenwich, in the Royal barge, a 40ft motor launch, at an average speed of 16 knots. All the way down the Embankment he was cheered by a crowd ten deep, and thousands gathered at Greenwich to greet the Royal visitor. The beautiful ceiling of the Painted Hall, completed two centuries ago by Sir James Thornhill, looked down upon a brilliant scene. The King's arrival in the Upper Hall was greeted by a roll of drums from the Royal Marines. Soft lights twinkled on the mess silver, valued at £10,000, all of which was in use. At the oak tables guests sat on chairs made from timbers of pre-Trafalgar shis>s. There was a ceremonial entry for a baron of beef; it was carried in procession round the hall to the tune of "The Roast Beef of Old England," played by the band of the Chatham Division, Royal Marines. There were no speeches. Lord Stanhope, First Lord of the Admiralty, submitted the loyal toast, and the procedure toiloed was that of an ordinary guest night. After dinner the King joined the other guests in conversation in the anterooms, watched a billiards match, saw the indoor bowls alley, and listened to the informal sing-song in the gunroom, organised by sub-lieutenants and midshipmen, which is a regular feature of the mess dinners. He listened with enjoyment to such songs as "Tipperary" and "Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree." His Majesty stayed at the College until midnight, when he drove to Buckingham Palace. The Painted Hall was intended for the refectory of a hospital, or haven of rest, for seamen. For a long period it attracted visitors from all parts of the world, but the number of pensioners increased and a home had to be found for them elsewhere. In 1823. after a long period during which no usa was made of the hall, it was converted into a gallery of naval paintings. The walls were almost hidden from view beneath these canvases, and it was not until a more fitting home was found for them a few years ago in the new National Maritime Museum at Greenwich that it was possible to undertake the restoration of the hall to its former beauty and to convert it into the officers' mess of the Royal Naval College. The ceiling was found to be in need of considerable repair. Rotten timbers in the roof were got rid of and replaced by small steel bands to sustain the ceiling to save it from cracking or sagging in the 7uture. The Office of Works and the Admiralty accomplished a three-fold task. They restored the Painted Hall, made it suitable for an officers' mess, and furnished Restoration involved the removal of the nineteenth-century additions such as the canvas and wooden screens which blocked the north and south walls and concealed from view the lower part of the handsome columns. In the course of the work two staircases were discovered and restored. An old heating system was removed and replaced by central heating by means of water carried in a pipe under the roadway from another building. Another innovation was the introduction of a system of air-conditioning. Service lifts with hot plates connect the mess with the kitchens, which are on a lower floor.