Old Royal Naval College
Encyclopedia
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site
in Greenwich
, London
, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO
) as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles”. The site is managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College (Foundation), set up in July 1998 as a Registered Charity to “look after these magnificent buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation”. The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren
, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
.
and the Chelsea Hospital
. The pensioned sailor
s wore blue uniforms not unlike the red ones of the Chelsea pensioners. It occupied its riverside site for over 170 years, closing to pensioners in 1869.
In 1730 the Crown gave the impounded Derwentwater
estates in Northumberland and Cumberland to the Greenwich Hospital Trustees, along with the lead
mining rights on the moors. In 1778, the Greenwich Hospital built Lowbyer Manor as a coaching inn, known until 1858c as The Anchor Inn to acknowledge the association with the Hospital.
The founding Greenwich Hospital charity still exists; though no longer based at the site. It is a Royal Charity
for the benefit of seafarers and their dependents, with the Secretary of State for Defence
acting as the Crown's
sole trustee
. The charity now funds sheltered housing for former Royal Navy
personnel and the school it spawned, the Royal Hospital School
, now at Holbrook
in Suffolk
. The charity remains the ground landlord
of the area between Romney Road and the river, and receives annual rent for the site from the Greenwich Foundation. However, under the terms of the National Maritime Museum Acts 1934 and 1989, the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School
and the Queen's House
are vested in the National Maritime Museum
for as long as they are required for museum purposes.
On 5 January 1806, Lord Nelson's body lay in state
in the Painted Hall of the Greenwich Hospital before being taken up the river Thames to St Paul's Cathedral
for a state funeral
.
The remains of thousands of sailors and officers, including those who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar
, were removed from the hospital site in 1875 and reinterred in East Greenwich Pleasaunce
or "Pleasaunce Park" (named after the former Royal Palace of Placentia on the site of the hospital).
, more commonly known as Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Tudor queens Mary I and Elizabeth I and reputedly the favourite palace of Henry VII, who built it. The palace had fallen into disrepair during the English Civil War
. With the exception of the incomplete John Webb building, the palace was finally demolished in 1694.
The hospital was created on the instructions of Mary II, who had been inspired by the sight of wounded sailors returning from the Battle of La Hogue
in 1692. She ordered the King Charles wing of the Palace—originally designed by architect John Webb
for King Charles II
in 1664—to be remodelled as a naval hospital to provide a counterpart for the Chelsea Hospital for soldiers. Sir Christopher Wren
and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor
gave their services free of charge as architects of the new Royal Hospital. Sir John Vanbrugh
succeeded Wren as architect, completing the complex to Wren's original plans.
An early controversy arose when it emerged that the original plans for the hospital would have blocked the riverside view from the Queen's House. Queen Mary II therefore ordered that the buildings be split, providing an avenue leading from the river through the hospital grounds up to the Queen's House and Greenwich Hill beyond. This gave the hospital its distinctive look, with its buildings arranged in a number of quadrants. Its four main buildings (the 'Courts') are bisected north-south by a Grand Square and processional route, and east-west by an internal road from the East Gate (and gate-house) to the West Gate (and gate-house) by Greenwich Market in Greenwich town centre. The Grand Square and processional route running north-south maintained access to, and a river view from, the Queen's House and Greenwich Park
beyond.
The principal buildings are King Charles Court (the oldest part dating back to the restoration), completed in 1705; Queen Mary Court (planned by Wren and Hawksmoor, but not built until after Wren's death, by Thomas Ripley
), completed in 1742; Queen Anne Court (architects: Wren and Hawksmoor), and King William Court (designed by Wren, but completed by Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh). They were designed to hold 1,500 seamen.
Queen Mary Court houses the Chapel (designed by Wren but not completed until 1742). Its present appearance dates from 1779–89, having been rebuilt to a design by James Stuart
after a devastating fire. King William Court is famous for its baroque
Painted Hall, which was painted by Sir James Thornhill
in honour of King William III
and Queen Mary II
(the ceiling of the Lower Hall), of Queen Anne
and her husband, Prince George of Denmark (the ceiling of the Upper Hall) and George I
(the north wall of the Upper Hall). The Painted Hall was deemed too magnificent for the pensioned seamen's refectory, and was never regularly used. It became a tourist destination, opened for viewing. In 1824 a ‘National Gallery of Naval Art’ was created in the Painted Hall, where it remained until 1936, when the collection was transferred to the National Maritime Museum
newly established in the Queen's House
and adjacent buildings.
On the riverside front of the north-east corner of King Charles' Court is an obelisk (designed by Philip Hardwick
and unveiled in 1855) erected in memory of Arctic
explorer Joseph René Bellot
, who died in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the members of John Franklin
's ill-fated expedition to open a Northwest Passage
in northern Canada.
The Greenwich Hospital buildings included an infirmary: the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital (which took its name from a hospital ship moored off Greenwich in 1870). The treatment for tropical disease
s moved in 1919 to the Seamen's Hospital Society
hospital near Euston Square, in central London, to form the Hospital for Tropical Diseases
. The Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital closed in 1986 with special services for seamen and their families then provided by the 'Dreadnought Unit' at St Thomas's Hospital in Lambeth
.
Greenwich Hospital closed in 1869.
and from 1873 to 1998 it provided a number of courses for naval officers including being home to the Royal Navy's staff college
. The staff course provided advanced training for mid-ranking officers. It became known as the "Navy’s university", auguring a new era of scientific training. It combined the functions and resources of the former Naval College at Portsmouth and the School of Naval Architecture and Marine engineering, which moved from South Kensington. In 1919 the Naval Staff College was also opened on the site.
During the Second World War the College’s major task was the training of fighting officers. Around 35,000 men and women graduated during that period. In 1943, the beautifully floored and paneled "Admiral’s House" on the north wing of King Charles Court was damaged by a direct hit from a German bomb; another hit the front of the building.
The Navy’s Department of Nuclear Science and Technology opened in 1959, and JASON
, the department’s research and training reactor was commissioned in the King William building in 1962. JASON was fully dismantled in 1999.
In 1967 Francis Chichester
was knighted on the river steps of the College by Queen Elizabeth II for being the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the world by the old clipper route; it was also the fastest circumnavigation (nine months and one day).
From 1983 the relocated Joint Services Defence College also occupied much of the King Charles building.
The Royal Navy finally left the College in 1998 when the site passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College. On the closure of the Royal Naval College, Britannia Royal Naval College
became the sole naval college in the United Kingdom.
. In 2000 Trinity College of Music
leased the major part of King Charles. This created a unique new educational and cultural mix.
In 2002 the Foundation realised its aim of opening up the whole site to visitors. It opens the Painted Hall, the Chapel and the grounds and a Visitor Centre to the public daily, free of charge, with guided tours available. The Old Royal Naval College has become open to students and visitors of all ages and nationalities accompanied often by music wafting from Trinity College. As Nathaniel Hawthorne said in 1863, "... the people are sooner or later the legitimate inheritors of whatever beauty kings and queens create."
In 2005 the room where Nelson's coffin was held prior to his being laid-in-state was opened as the Nelson Room. The little side room contains a statue of Nelson replicating the one in Trafalgar Square, memorabilia, paintings and information. It can be seen on one of the guided tours that also include a visit to the undercrofts, the old skittle alley and crypt. A service is held in the chapel every Sunday at 11 am which is open to all. Public concerts are regularly held here and a wide variety of business and cultural events are held in the Painted Hall. The area is used by visitors, students, local people and film crews in a traffic-free environment that provides a variety of coffee shops, bars and restaurants, all incorporated within the old buildings, as part of a unique “ancient and modern” blend that support 21st century life in Greenwich.
The Old Royal Naval College and the “Maritime Greenwich” World Heritage site are becoming focal points for a wide range of business and community activities. Trinity College of Music provide a wide range or musicians and ensembles on a subsidised commercial basis to play at events throughout East London and beyond, part of their business and community “out-reach” policy encouraged and part-funded by the Higher Education Funding Council.
The site is regularly used for filming television programmes, television advertisements, and feature films. Productions have included Patriot Games
, where an attack on a fictional royal family member, Lord Holmes, was filmed, as well as Shanghai Knights
, and a 2006 television advertisement campaign for the British food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer
. Other films include Four Weddings and a Funeral
, The Madness of King George
, The Mummy Returns
, The Avengers (1998) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
(2001).
More recent filming has included BBC
television's spy-drama Spooks
and the dramatisation of Little Dorrit
, David Cronenberg
's film Eastern Promises, The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman
's Northern Lights
novel and The Wolf Man
, a remake of the1941 film of the same name. There was extensive use of the site in the filming of Amazing Grace and Gulliver's Travels and it was used in The King's Speech. In September 2010, the fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was filmed, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
, where the interior would portray St. James' Palace and the street running through the centre of the site sets the scene for a coach chase.
The "Green" and grounds behind the college will serve as the competition site for the Equestrian events of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. A temporary arena for 15,000 spectators will be erected in conformance with the quadratic layout of the buildings in the ground. The cross-country trail has also been laid out within the property. Paddocks for some 175 horses have been set up in the southwest corner of the park, and lodgings for some 80 grooms will be provided amongst the buildings' dorms, close to the paddocks.
Greenwich Hospital (London):
Royal Naval College, Greenwich:
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
) as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles”. The site is managed by the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College (Foundation), set up in July 1998 as a Registered Charity to “look after these magnificent buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation”. The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
.
Greenwich Hospital
Greenwich Hospital was founded in 1694 as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich. It was established as a residential home for injured sailors, on the model of Les InvalidesLes Invalides
Les Invalides , officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides , is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's...
and the Chelsea Hospital
Royal Hospital Chelsea
The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for British soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age, located in the Chelsea region of central London, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word,...
. The pensioned sailor
Greenwich pensioner
A Greenwich pensioner was the Naval equivalent of a Chelsea pensioner.Although the initial concept of a Greenwich pensioner was that of someone living in the Royal Hospital Greenwich, the institution became responsible for the payment of pensions in 1804 .Consequentially, an ex-sailor living in...
s wore blue uniforms not unlike the red ones of the Chelsea pensioners. It occupied its riverside site for over 170 years, closing to pensioners in 1869.
In 1730 the Crown gave the impounded Derwentwater
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater was an English Jacobite, executed for treason. His death is remembered in an English traditional ballad, "Lord Allenwater", collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1904 from the singing of Emily Stears.-Life:He was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of...
estates in Northumberland and Cumberland to the Greenwich Hospital Trustees, along with the lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
mining rights on the moors. In 1778, the Greenwich Hospital built Lowbyer Manor as a coaching inn, known until 1858c as The Anchor Inn to acknowledge the association with the Hospital.
The founding Greenwich Hospital charity still exists; though no longer based at the site. It is a Royal Charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
for the benefit of seafarers and their dependents, with the Secretary of State for Defence
Secretary of State for Defence
The Secretary of State for Defence, popularly known as the Defence Secretary, is the senior Government of the United Kingdom minister in charge of the Ministry of Defence, chairing the Defence Council. It is a Cabinet position...
acting as the Crown's
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
sole trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
. The charity now funds sheltered housing for former Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
personnel and the school it spawned, the Royal Hospital School
Royal Hospital School
The Royal Hospital School, , is a British co-educational independent boarding school with naval traditions. It admits pupils from age 11 to 18 through Common Entrance or the school's own exam...
, now at Holbrook
Holbrook, Suffolk
Holbrook is a village situated close to the northern shore of the Stour estuary in Suffolk, England. It is located on the Shotley peninsula in Babergh district, around 8⅓ km south of Ipswich....
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. The charity remains the ground landlord
Landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
of the area between Romney Road and the river, and receives annual rent for the site from the Greenwich Foundation. However, under the terms of the National Maritime Museum Acts 1934 and 1989, the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School
Royal Hospital School
The Royal Hospital School, , is a British co-educational independent boarding school with naval traditions. It admits pupils from age 11 to 18 through Common Entrance or the school's own exam...
and the Queen's House
Queen's House
The Queen's House, Greenwich, is a former royal residence built between 1614-1617 in Greenwich, then a few miles downriver from London, and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James I of England...
are vested in the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
for as long as they are required for museum purposes.
On 5 January 1806, Lord Nelson's body lay in state
Lying in state
Lying in state is a term used to describe the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city...
in the Painted Hall of the Greenwich Hospital before being taken up the river Thames to St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
for a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
.
The remains of thousands of sailors and officers, including those who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, were removed from the hospital site in 1875 and reinterred in East Greenwich Pleasaunce
East Greenwich Pleasaunce
East Greenwich Pleasaunce is a public park in East Greenwich, in south-east London. It is situated to the north side of the railway line between Maze Hill and Westcombe Park railway stations and south of the A206 Woolwich Road....
or "Pleasaunce Park" (named after the former Royal Palace of Placentia on the site of the hospital).
History of the buildings
Greenwich Hospital was built on the site of the Palace of PlacentiaPalace of Placentia
The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447, in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London...
, more commonly known as Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Tudor queens Mary I and Elizabeth I and reputedly the favourite palace of Henry VII, who built it. The palace had fallen into disrepair during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. With the exception of the incomplete John Webb building, the palace was finally demolished in 1694.
The hospital was created on the instructions of Mary II, who had been inspired by the sight of wounded sailors returning from the Battle of La Hogue
Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue
The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hogue took place between 29 May and 4 June New Style , 1692 ....
in 1692. She ordered the King Charles wing of the Palace—originally designed by architect John Webb
John Webb
John Webb was an English architect and scholar.-Life:He was born in Little Britain, Smithfield London and died in Butleigh in Somerset and became son-in-law and personal assistant to fellow architect and theatre designer Inigo Jones from 1628, having married Jones' niece Anne...
for King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1664—to be remodelled as a naval hospital to provide a counterpart for the Chelsea Hospital for soldiers. Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
gave their services free of charge as architects of the new Royal Hospital. Sir John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
succeeded Wren as architect, completing the complex to Wren's original plans.
An early controversy arose when it emerged that the original plans for the hospital would have blocked the riverside view from the Queen's House. Queen Mary II therefore ordered that the buildings be split, providing an avenue leading from the river through the hospital grounds up to the Queen's House and Greenwich Hill beyond. This gave the hospital its distinctive look, with its buildings arranged in a number of quadrants. Its four main buildings (the 'Courts') are bisected north-south by a Grand Square and processional route, and east-west by an internal road from the East Gate (and gate-house) to the West Gate (and gate-house) by Greenwich Market in Greenwich town centre. The Grand Square and processional route running north-south maintained access to, and a river view from, the Queen's House and Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park
Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed , it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. It commands fine views over the River Thames, Isle of...
beyond.
The principal buildings are King Charles Court (the oldest part dating back to the restoration), completed in 1705; Queen Mary Court (planned by Wren and Hawksmoor, but not built until after Wren's death, by Thomas Ripley
Thomas Ripley (architect)
-Career:He first kept a coffee house in Wood Street, off Cheapside, London and in 1705 was admitted to the Carpenter's Company. An ex-carpenter, he rose by degrees to become an architect and Surveyor in the royal Office of Works...
), completed in 1742; Queen Anne Court (architects: Wren and Hawksmoor), and King William Court (designed by Wren, but completed by Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh). They were designed to hold 1,500 seamen.
Queen Mary Court houses the Chapel (designed by Wren but not completed until 1742). Its present appearance dates from 1779–89, having been rebuilt to a design by James Stuart
James Stuart (1713-1788)
James "Athenian" Stuart was an English archaeologist, architect and artist best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism.-Early life:...
after a devastating fire. King William Court is famous for its baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
Painted Hall, which was painted by Sir James Thornhill
James Thornhill
Sir James Thornhill was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition.-Life:...
in honour of King William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and Queen Mary II
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
(the ceiling of the Lower Hall), of Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
and her husband, Prince George of Denmark (the ceiling of the Upper Hall) and George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
(the north wall of the Upper Hall). The Painted Hall was deemed too magnificent for the pensioned seamen's refectory, and was never regularly used. It became a tourist destination, opened for viewing. In 1824 a ‘National Gallery of Naval Art’ was created in the Painted Hall, where it remained until 1936, when the collection was transferred to the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
newly established in the Queen's House
Queen's House
The Queen's House, Greenwich, is a former royal residence built between 1614-1617 in Greenwich, then a few miles downriver from London, and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark, the queen of King James I of England...
and adjacent buildings.
On the riverside front of the north-east corner of King Charles' Court is an obelisk (designed by Philip Hardwick
Philip Hardwick
Philip Hardwick was an eminent English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere...
and unveiled in 1855) erected in memory of Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
explorer Joseph René Bellot
Joseph René Bellot
Joseph René Bellot was a French Arctic explorer.Bellot was born at Paris, the son of a farrier, but moved to Rochefort with his family in 1831. With the aid of the authorities of Rochefort he was enabled at the age of 15 to enter the Ecole Navale at Brest, in which he studied two years and earned...
, who died in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the members of John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
's ill-fated expedition to open a Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
in northern Canada.
The Greenwich Hospital buildings included an infirmary: the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital (which took its name from a hospital ship moored off Greenwich in 1870). The treatment for tropical disease
Tropical disease
Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forcing hibernation. Insects such as mosquitoes and...
s moved in 1919 to the Seamen's Hospital Society
Seamen's Hospital Society
The Seamen's Hospital Society is a UK charity established in 1821 with the purpose of helping people currently or previously employed in the Merchant Navy or fishing fleets, and their dependants...
hospital near Euston Square, in central London, to form the Hospital for Tropical Diseases
Hospital for Tropical Diseases
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases is a specialist tropical disease hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine...
. The Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital closed in 1986 with special services for seamen and their families then provided by the 'Dreadnought Unit' at St Thomas's Hospital in Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
.
Greenwich Hospital closed in 1869.
Royal Naval College, Greenwich
When the Greenwich Hospital was closed it was converted to a training establishment of the Royal NavyRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and from 1873 to 1998 it provided a number of courses for naval officers including being home to the Royal Navy's staff college
Staff college
Staff colleges train military officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career...
. The staff course provided advanced training for mid-ranking officers. It became known as the "Navy’s university", auguring a new era of scientific training. It combined the functions and resources of the former Naval College at Portsmouth and the School of Naval Architecture and Marine engineering, which moved from South Kensington. In 1919 the Naval Staff College was also opened on the site.
During the Second World War the College’s major task was the training of fighting officers. Around 35,000 men and women graduated during that period. In 1943, the beautifully floored and paneled "Admiral’s House" on the north wing of King Charles Court was damaged by a direct hit from a German bomb; another hit the front of the building.
The Navy’s Department of Nuclear Science and Technology opened in 1959, and JASON
JASON reactor
JASON was a nuclear reactor installed by the Ministry of Defence at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London.It was an Argonaut series 10 kW research reactor designed by the US Argonne National Laboratory, and was used by the Royal Navy for experimental and training purposes...
, the department’s research and training reactor was commissioned in the King William building in 1962. JASON was fully dismantled in 1999.
In 1967 Francis Chichester
Francis Chichester
Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE , aviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall.-Early life:Chichester was born in Barnstaple,...
was knighted on the river steps of the College by Queen Elizabeth II for being the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the world by the old clipper route; it was also the fastest circumnavigation (nine months and one day).
From 1983 the relocated Joint Services Defence College also occupied much of the King Charles building.
The Royal Navy finally left the College in 1998 when the site passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College. On the closure of the Royal Naval College, Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
became the sole naval college in the United Kingdom.
Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College
Since 1998 the site has had new life breathed into it through a mix of new uses and activities and a revival of the historic old site under the management and control of the Greenwich Foundation. The buildings are Grade I listed. In 1999 some parts of Queen Mary and King William, and the whole of Queen Anne and the Dreadnought Building were leased for 150 years by the University of GreenwichUniversity of Greenwich
The University of Greenwich is a British university located in the London Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The main campus is located on the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, a central location within the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:The history of the...
. In 2000 Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music
Trinity College of Music is one of the London music conservatories, based in Greenwich. It is part of Trinity Laban.The conservatoire is inheritor of elegant riverside buildings of the former Greenwich Hospital, designed in part by Sir Christopher Wren...
leased the major part of King Charles. This created a unique new educational and cultural mix.
In 2005 the room where Nelson's coffin was held prior to his being laid-in-state was opened as the Nelson Room. The little side room contains a statue of Nelson replicating the one in Trafalgar Square, memorabilia, paintings and information. It can be seen on one of the guided tours that also include a visit to the undercrofts, the old skittle alley and crypt. A service is held in the chapel every Sunday at 11 am which is open to all. Public concerts are regularly held here and a wide variety of business and cultural events are held in the Painted Hall. The area is used by visitors, students, local people and film crews in a traffic-free environment that provides a variety of coffee shops, bars and restaurants, all incorporated within the old buildings, as part of a unique “ancient and modern” blend that support 21st century life in Greenwich.
The Old Royal Naval College and the “Maritime Greenwich” World Heritage site are becoming focal points for a wide range of business and community activities. Trinity College of Music provide a wide range or musicians and ensembles on a subsidised commercial basis to play at events throughout East London and beyond, part of their business and community “out-reach” policy encouraged and part-funded by the Higher Education Funding Council.
The site is regularly used for filming television programmes, television advertisements, and feature films. Productions have included Patriot Games
Patriot Games (film)
Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...
, where an attack on a fictional royal family member, Lord Holmes, was filmed, as well as Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights is a 2003 action-comedy film. It is the sequel to Shanghai Noon. It was directed by David Dobkin and written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.-Plot:...
, and a 2006 television advertisement campaign for the British food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
. Other films include Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
, The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
, The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
, The Avengers (1998) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is a 2001 adventure thriller film adapted from the Tomb Raider video game series. Directed by Simon West and starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, it was released in U.S. theaters on June 15, 2001. The film was a commercial success...
(2001).
More recent filming has included BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television's spy-drama Spooks
Spooks
Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
and the dramatisation of Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
, David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
's film Eastern Promises, The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
's Northern Lights
Northern Lights (novel)
Northern Lights, known as The Golden Compass in North America, is the first novel in English novelist Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy...
novel and The Wolf Man
The Wolf Man (2009 film)
The Wolfman is a 2010 American remake of the 1941 classic werewolf horror film of the same name. This film's second half was significantly altered and expanded from the original film's plot. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving...
, a remake of the1941 film of the same name. There was extensive use of the site in the filming of Amazing Grace and Gulliver's Travels and it was used in The King's Speech. In September 2010, the fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was filmed, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series...
, where the interior would portray St. James' Palace and the street running through the centre of the site sets the scene for a coach chase.
The "Green" and grounds behind the college will serve as the competition site for the Equestrian events of the London 2012 Summer Olympics. A temporary arena for 15,000 spectators will be erected in conformance with the quadratic layout of the buildings in the ground. The cross-country trail has also been laid out within the property. Paddocks for some 175 horses have been set up in the southwest corner of the park, and lodgings for some 80 grooms will be provided amongst the buildings' dorms, close to the paddocks.
Other links
Old Royal Naval College:- Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College - the official website
- University of Greenwich
- Trinity College of Music
- Greenwich World Heritage Site
- Photos from the conversion
Greenwich Hospital (London):
- The Royal Hospital School
- There is also a Greenwich HospitalGreenwich Hospital (Connecticut)Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, is a community hospital serving people in lower Fairfield County and in lower Westchester County New York....
located in Greenwich, ConnecticutGreenwich, ConnecticutGreenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
. - List of hospitals in the UK
Royal Naval College, Greenwich:
- Britannia Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...