Subject

In 1560 Sir Francis Knollys leased the land where the Old Admiralty Building now stands to build a house which later became known as Wallingford House. In 1622 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the Lord High Admiral, purchased Wallingford House and so began an association between the site and the direction of the Royal Navy that lasted for some 350 years. Sir Christopher Wren recommended this site for the first planned Admiralty Office, which opened in 1695.