The 1805 Dispatches #25.06 December 2025 6 of 10 TRAFALGAR DAY IN MADRON, CORNWALL. Capt. Andrew Welch RN Rtd. Trafalgar Day in Madron Church By the late A L Rowse (1903-1997) Under the lee of St Michael’s Mount A Newlyn fisherman in the bay Encountered the dispatch-boat, Pickle, Bringing news upon their way. Up-Channel of glorious Victory, But sealed and saddened by the death Of the nation’s hero in selfsame hour, In death, as in life, he kept the faith. Sheltering from storm and wind, The ship lit up by angry sun, Flame and crimson as the blood Split on deck ‘ere day was done. In Chapel Street, the Assembly Rooms Filled with the good folk of Penzance, Gay in the flickering candlelight, Paused in the middle of the dance. When the Mayor aloft in the gallery Called for silence to announce The glorious yet grievous news, A hush fell on the crowd. At once With one impulse the gathering poured Out in the street above the bay And up the hill to Madron church There to give thanks, and grieve and pray For all the fallen along with him And every year, as if time should stay, The faithful gather there in church Still to remember Trafalgar Day. As A L Rowse’s poem says, the news of the victory of Trafalgar & Nelson’s death was first received in Penzance on 4th November 1805, via the crew of a Newlyn fishing vessel who heard it from HMS Pickle. Lt. Lapenotière landed from Pickle at about 1100 that morning and was on his way to the Admiralty in London within the hour. The news may well have spreading through Falmouth soon thereafter or maybe the Mayor of Penzance’s announcement to the great and good of Penzance on 4th November 1805 was the first time anyone in Britain had heard the news. However the news started to spread, Penzance was undoubtedly the first place where a church service was held to celebrate the Royal Navy’s great victory over the combined French & Spanish Fleet and to mourn the death of the Nation’s hero. St. Maddern, a C14 church in Madron on the northern edge of Penzance, was at the time the Mother Church of Penzance and so the Mayor led the procession up the hill to the church. The Nelson Banner was made for that service. The original is now in the Penlee House Gallery & Museum, but the church has an exact copy. Despite A L Rowse’s poetic promise, the annual memorial service lapsed until 1946, when a former naval chaplain, the Rev. Michael Hocking, as the vicar of Madron decided to restart it. Every year since (barring Covid times), on the Sunday nearest to Trafalgar Day, the people of Penzance have joined to mourn the death of Nelson & remember his great victory. This year, on Sunday 19th October, the Mayor of Penzance, Cllr. Stephen Reynolds, was joined by Cllr. Hugh Eddy, the Chair of Madron Parish Council, and Captain James Hall, the CO of HMS Seahawk, the naval air station at Culdrose on the Lizard Peninsula. Cllr. Reynolds & Capt. Hall both laid wreaths at the church’s war memorial. They were well supported by an armed guard from HMS Seahawk, the HMS Seahawk volunteer band and Sea Cadets from TS Grenville. Ordinary Cadet Lilly Harvey of the Penzance Sea Cadet Unit TS Grenville carried the Nelson Banner into St Maddern for the Memorial Service. HMS Seahawk’s Volunteer Band marching past the church after the service Capt. Andrew Welch RN Rtd, representing the 1805 Club, outside St Maddern, with a White Ensign flying from the church tower.
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