Welcome to West End LIFE

200 years ago, England was at war with Napoleonic France, England relied for its security on the Royal Navy, whcih had won a massive victory under Nelson at Cape Trafalgar in 1805. The Admiralty already had a telegraph line connecting Admiralty Headquarters in London with Portsmouth and it was decided to extend this line of signal stations all the way down to Plymouth, so as to provide contact with the fleet and to give early warning signs of enemy action. Ironically the system chosen was based on an invention by Frenchman Claude Chappe, called a shutter telegraph.

One of the stations was built here in WEst End, roughly in the vicinity of Southern Road and called 'Telegraph Tower', the next station eastwards was at Wickham and to the west Toot Hill at Rownhams. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, all these telegraph stations were closed down, being replaced some years later with a semaphore telegraph line built further to the north.

Unfortunately, the building here was of a temporary nature and constructed of timber, so today there is nothing to be seen except clues in the form of names like Telegraph Woods and Telegraph Road.

For more information, visit the West End Museum and Heritage Centre on the corner of Orxchards Way and high Street. Open on Saturdays from 10.00 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. Well worth a visit.