HT History Main 02

History Trail

Experience our History Trail, weaving around Royal William Yard. This interactive discovery trail will connect you to a collection of information, images and audio. Take a self-guided tour through archives, plans and pictures, and hear fascinating stories and first-hand accounts that will bring the past alive in a unique way. Step into the past as Royal William Yard becomes a free open-air museum.

If these walls could talk...

Follow the trail around Royal William Yard using the map.

At each numbered stop (1-11), you’ll find a History Trail plaque on the wall with a unique QR code. Scan each one to see and hear fascinating stories and first-hand accounts that will bring the past alive.

01. Gatehouse

Entrance to the grandest of all royal victualling yards.

02. Slaughterhouse

Uncover the gritty, vital role it played in feeding the Royal Navy.

03. Mills Bakery

The engine room of Royal Navy rations.

04. New Cooperage

Barrels, craft, and change.

05. Melville

The commanding heart of Royal William Yard.

07. Brewhouse

The brewery that never brewed.

08. Factory Cooperage

At the centre of craft and change.

09. Clarence

Seaward gateway to the Yard.

10. Firestone Arch

Passage to the sea and a story of land reclaimed.

11. Residence 1 & 2

Officers’ homes at the Yard.