Few people today realise that Newmarket hosted, and used, brand new communications’ technology during the Napoleonic wars. The British Government considered there was a very real threat of invasion of the country by the French, when ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte. This fear was also growing in the country. The Royal Navy was then the pre-eminent British fighting force, run by the Admiralty in Whitehall, London, with numerous naval bases situated around the country.
A new means was sought to rapidly send messages between distant locations. At that time, an express messaging system, via horseback, could only relay messages over land between London and Portsmouth in around 4.5 hours.
Two new messaging system designs were selected for trial and the Admiralty opted for a wooden shutter telegraph invented by Reverend Lord George Murray. Experimental trials which took place in September 1795 meant that the first telegraph line was completed March 1796. Other lines followed.
This simple wooden structure was relatively inexpensive and could be erected on the tops of hills where long-distance vision was possible. Thus, as these wooden stations read the incoming messages, it was possible for their staff to relay the message to the next station almost immediately. Chains of these stations ran to different key locations across the country
The machine itself was little more than a wooden shed, probably operated by 4 men and possibly, a naval officer. One operator (a Glassman) looked through a telescope, to receive and pass on the messages to be displayed, and one or two other men (a Ropeman) manipulated the shutters, to transmit the received message, and another Glassman, checked the message after it passed to the next station.
The machine itself used 6 moveable shutters to construct messages. The vertical frame was about 20 feet high (circa 6 metres). The shutters could be opened or closed, allowing 64 possible variations.
Of course, the system had its limitations, it could only be used during the day and in clear weather. However, messages could now go from London to Portsmouth in around 7.5 minutes in the right conditions!
Newmarket could also message Great Yarmouth and other Naval bases along the east coast. The site of its shutter telegraph station was on Long Hill. This was the site where Charles II had loved to sit in “The King’s Chair” to view his horses and miles of his Kingdom. Of course, being Newmarket, the affairs of racing and cockfighting (Newmarket was once a national centre of this “sport”) or boxing bouts were often of pressing concern and when the telegraph was not transmitting Admiralty messages, it was often a rapid source of news and sporting results for the rest of the country!
After Napoleon’s defeat, The Ram inn was rebuilt and named “The Rutland Arms” and in honour of the British victory and the national hero, “Fox and Goose Lane” was renamed “Wellington Street”. Of course Newmarket continued its regular trade as a coaching stop of national importance and consequently, a place of welcome for many diverse travellers. The news went back to frequently taking days to arrive elsewhere until new forms of communication technology were invented.
History
The Admiralty’s Shutter Telescope in Newmarket
