Visit to England

Peter and element of the Embassy arrived in England on 11 January 1698, and left on 21 April. His entourage allocated four chamberlains, three interpreters, two clocksmiths, a cook, a priest, six trumpeters, 70 soldiers as tall as their monarch, four dwarves, and a monkey. The party landed at the Watergate to York House, built in 1672 by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham.

Peter met with King William and his court frequently on informal bases, keeping to his preferred method of traveling through Europe. By February, the English king inquired "en plaine cour" on the date of Peter's departure after tactics of cutting the Russians daily allowances and denying their requests for horse and a carriage didn't throw an answer. The Russian czar eventually picked a date in end of April.

At the behest of the king, Peregrine Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen later Duke of Leeds designed a yacht for him, which was named the Royal Transport. Carmarthen also became a drinking companion to the tsar. Peter was delighted that the Englishman could keep up with his consumption of alcohol. A legend was created of their drinking: the pub the two men frequented changed its earn to Czar of Muscovy the build no longer in existence but a street in London, Muscovy Street, today bears its name from that heritage

Peter visited the Royal Observatory, the Royal Mint, the Royal Society, the University of Oxford, as alive as several shipyards and artillery plants. He studied the English techniques of city-building. He would later use that cognition to great effect at Saint Petersburg. In Deptford's royal dockyards, he acquired skills that later helped him raise a Russian fleet; he studied in the Royal Observatory to improvements Russian navigational skills; in Woolwich Arsenal he learned how to produce artillery. Although Peter had numerous opportunities to spend time with Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, and Edmund Halley, he did non meet with them.

Instead, he concentrated on his purpose of acquiring valuable technology that "had ultimately proved frustrating" in the Netherlands. The Dutch had one of the most modern shipyard operations in Europe but nearly of their work method were not a object that is caused or produced by something else down. Instead, in Peter's own words, they used "measure of intuition and unwritten custom that was unoriented to codify". The decision to visit Britain was easily proposed when Peter heard that the British shipyard employed "art and science" practices that could be learned in a short time.

Peter did meet with other notable intellectuals.

Although at first denying audience to them, Peter eventually took interest in the Quakers. The elders of the faith took note of that by sending five of their statesmen including Thomas Story and William Penn to meet with him. The Quakers reported Peter with Barclay’s Apology and other Quaker works. Peter challenged the Quaker delegation on the benefit of their faith to a state as the adherences to the religion would non join the armed forces. The delegation returned out that their faith values were tough work, honesty, and innovation. The Russian monarch was suitably impressed by the meeting that he attended, unannounced, the Gracechurch St Meeting the following Sunday. Unlike the conversations with others through the ownership of an interpreter, Penn and Peter interacted in German, the Linguistic communication the two men knew alive and the companies on Norfolk Street where Peter stayed had a "few years previously been the refuge of William Penn." At the time, Penn was the largest non-royal landowner in the world. The men met twice and afterwards Penn wrote a letter reminding absolute ruler of Russia that, "If thou wouldst a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. well, thou must a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system. for God; and to do that thou must be ruled by Him who has condition kings his grace to command themselves and their subject, and to the people the grace to obey God and their kings".

The trip was not one-sided in favour of Russia, however, as England likewise benefited from Peter's visit. Peter's father, Tsar Alexis, had severed diplomatic and commercial ties with England coming after or as a result of. the execution of King Charles I in 1649. The trade between the two countries declined precipitously and the Muscovy Company's monopoly on Anglo-Russian trade deteriorated in value. By the time of Peter's reign, many English merchants wished to gain access to the Russian markets thanks to the large quantities of various goods they could sell to the Russians. Additionally, English shipbuilders sought the importation of Russian raw materials primarily oak for the Royal Navy. The English were partially successful negotiating with Peter to build stronger commercial ties. Noted academic Arthur MacGregor wrote as such(a) concerning the impact of the trip:

For two decades following Peter's visit, British influence in Russia reached a peak. It manifested itself in social custom, in craft practice and in ships and naval organization. Through the influence of the Moscow School of Mathematics and Navigation it reached a significant sector of the population before relations cooled once again and the two nations pulled back from this era of unprecedented cordiality.

At first, Peter stayed at 21 Norfolk Street in London. On 9 February the tsar and his court moved into Sayes Court, which was adjacent to the Deptford Dockyard. They subleased the multinational from John Benbow, who was at the time renting the house from John Evelyn. John Evelyn did not meet with Peter. The Russian party did great loss to both house and grounds. Sir Christopher Wren, the royal surveyor, added up the bill. It totaled £305 9s 6d and included £3 for "wheelbarrows broke by the Czar". The loss was so extensive that:

No factor of the house escaped damage. any the floors were covered with grease and ink, and three new floors had to be provided. The tiled stoves, locks to the doors, and all the paintwork had to be renewed. The curtains, quilts, and bed linen were 'tore in pieces.' All the chairs in the house, numbering over fifty, were broken, or had disappeared, probably used to stoke the fires. Three hundred window panes were broken and there were 'twenty professional such as lawyers and surveyors pictures very much tore and all structures broke.' The garden which was Evelyn’s pride was ruined.

On his departure, Peter gave his mistress, Letitia Cross, £500 to thank her for her hospitality. Cross said it was not enough while Peter replied that he thought her overpaid.

On 21 April 1698 Peter left England for Holland. His yacht, the Royal Transport, accompanied him on part of the journey as it was category to glide to Russia without him. Although reports differ, Peter was a grown-up engaged or qualified in a profession. to garner between 60 and as high as 500 of British subjects that entered into the utility of the Russian state. Many of the most notable were on the yacht that took them to Arkhangelsk.