uncle of the future Queen Elizabeth I when Anne Boleyn gave birth in 1533. After the failed Spanish Armada of 1588 during the Anglo-Spanish War, a medieval barn belonging to Torre Abbey was used to house 397 Spanish prisoners of war and in recognition of this the building was named the "Spanish Barn". In 1605 a resident of the Cockington area, George Waymouth, explored the coastline of Maine and caused a sensation when he returned to Plymouth with a group of Native Americans. Almost exactly 100 years after the failed armada of the King of Spain, William III landed at Brixham in Torbay on 5 November 1688 before passing through Torquay during his march to London, on his way to gain control of the country in the 'Glorious Revolution'. Rawlyn Mallock MP of the Cockington Mallocks was one of the small band of peers to greet him. In 1785 the Keyberry Turnpike Trust opened the road from Barton to Newton Bushell (Abbot), increasing contact between the nascent towns and the regional capital of Exeter. Napoleonic Wars and early development An early visitor to Torquay in 1794 is recorded as saying "Instead of the poor uncomfortable village we had expected, how great was our surprise at seeing a pretty range of neat new buildings, fitted up for summer visitors, visitors here can enjoy carriage rides, bathing, retirement and a most romantic situation". Another early visitor exclaimed "It is not England, but a bit of sunny Italy taken bodily from its rugged coast and placed here amid the green places and the pleasant pastoral lanes of beautiful Devon'." Torquay owes much to Napoleon Bonaparte, the Napoleonic wars meant that the rich elite could no longer visit continental Europe and looked for local destinations to visit instead. Torbay, the large bay of which Torquay is located on the northern side of, alongside the other towns of Paignton and Brixham, was ideal as a large sheltered anchorage for ships and was frequently used by the Channel Fleet which protected England against invasion by Napoleon and due to this wives and relatives of officers often visited Torquay to be near their loved ones in the fleet. During this period the Royal Navy ship HMS Venerable was wrecked while sheltering in the bay on 24 November 1804. Torquay's initial development owes a great deal to the efforts of Sir Lawrence Palk, 2nd Baronet, owner of the