Maritime Greenwich
Maritime Greenwich includes the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen's House, National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory, Greenwich Royal Park, the Ranger's House and the historic town centre. Many of its buildings are by the greatest British architects of the 17th and 18th centuries, and as a whole the Site is a unique historic townscape.
Equally important, it embodies themes of great historical significance: as a major royal site under the Tudors and Stuart monarchs; as the home of ground-breaking astronomy and 'Greenwich Time', through the 300-year role of the Royal Observatory in improving navigation and global time-keeping; of the former Royal Hospital for Seamen, later the Royal Naval College and now a modern university campus; of Cutty Sark, the last great tea clipper; and of the world's pre-eminent maritime museum.
Visit January 2004
Greenwich is part of London, but actually more a kind of village to itself. Going there via the Dockland Railway you pass glittering skyscrapers and modern industrial scenery.
The National Maritime Museum is one of the attractions here: large, with well-presented exhibits. Next door is the Queen's House, a small white building where you really have to see the inside (lovely rooms!). On the hill behind these two buildings is the Royal Observatory - another must see.
Besides these monuments, Greenwich is also a very attractive place for a walk. The distances are not big, and there are things to see in almost every street. The whole village has a good atmosphere. I found it a great destination for a weekend trip.
More photos can be found in the Picture Gallery
Reviews
Klaus Freisinger (Austria):
Greenwich is a site that truly deserves its listing on the WHS. Apart from being very easy to reach from central London, Greenwich´s importance in the fields of science, navigation, and world exploration is really universal and thus adds a lot to experiencing it. I was there on a warm summer evening, so all the buildings were unfortunately already closed, but the park was still open - a great place for a stroll. Also the first meridian in the Royal Observatory could at least be seen, if not actually touched.. This is a place I certainly have to return to soon. |
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Ian Cade (England):
 This is the third of London’s four UNESCO site’s to be added to the WHC list, and it is one of my favourite parts of the city. The Town of Greenwich (gren-itch) itself is a quaint place and has a much more relaxed atmosphere than the rest of the city. Greenwich was included for both its architecture and its role in the scientific developments. The Old Royal Naval College is the largest building in the site, and provides it’s highlight in the Painted Hall which is features the finest Baroque decorative paintings in Britain and it is breathtaking I must admit.
The highlight of the scientific side is the Royal Observatory up on the hill through which runs the Greenwich Meridian which divides the globe into an Eastern and Western hemispheres. The museum here is very interesting especially if you like clocks! And to make things better all of the museum’s here are now free, as most of the world class museums of London now are! The park is a really nice place to sit and relax and there is also the Cutty Sark ship so you should plan on spending at least half a day here to get the best out of it.
It is reasonably easy to get out to Greenwich, the Docklands Light Railway runs there from central London (one station next to the Tower of London!) or you can get a boat down the Thames if you want a more relaxed way to get there. |
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C H Ho (Hong Kong, China):
I just visited the Observatory. I haven't had enough time to visited the Maritime Museum. I guess listening the story at Greenwich Observatory is very interesting. |
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