I have been to Greenwich twice now and greatly enjoyed both visits. It is readily accessible from two of London’s other WHS and, appropriately for a maritime site, the quickest way from Westminster to Greenwich is often using the river bus along the Thames. It is also a short jaunt on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from the Tower Gateway station, near the Tower of London, to Cutty Sark station, which lies just outside the core zone. The railway line travels beneath the towering skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, for many years the tallest in the UK, and the Georgian elegance of Greenwich is an intriguing clash to the giant pillars of steel and glass across the river. There is a foot tunnel under the river linking both sides that was opened in 1902 and is still operational. Since then, the northern side has been totally transformed from a bustling dockyard at the heart of an imperial trade network to a forest of high-rise buildings that are a hub for bankers and other financial services (the reader can draw their own conclusions about how much has really changed vis-à-vis the balance of wealth around the globe). Meanwhile the south bank has hardly changed since the height of Britain’s naval power in the 18th Century.

Whilst there was a royal palace at Greenwich on the banks of the Thames from the 14th Century, there is no sign of it now and the oldest building that survives to the present is the Queen’s House, dating from 1616. The eponymous Queen who commissioned it was the wife of James I, Anne of Denmark. It was designed by famed architect Inigo Jones and, as the first Palladian building in Britain, inspired stately homes and country villas throughout the country for the next two centuries. Today it is a museum and whilst a ticket is required these are free of charge. After the English Civil Wars and the subsequent restoration of the monarchy, the palace was in disrepair and Charles II planned to construct a new one but only one wing was built along with a park landscape by André Le Nôtre, better known for his work on Versailles. A royal observatory was established in the grounds in 1675 and various star charts and catalogues were developed, including those of the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, and the famed Robert Hooke. Work at this observatory was integral to establishing methods for determining longitude at sea, the discovery of which helped to enable Britain to establish global mercantile and military naval dominance in subsequent centuries. British astronomers long used the Greenwich Observatory as the baseline for their measurements and, at an international conference in 1884, Greenwich was defined as the international standard for timekeeping and mapmaking as the Prime Meridian. This was despite protests from the French contingent who eventually abstained on the vote and continued to use the Paris Meridian for another 27 years. Until 1954, the precise value of Greenwich Mean Time, and thus all time in the world, was measured from the royal observatory. The observatory is now also a museum but unusually for the UK, where most museums are free, there is a charge to enter.

Queen Mary II commissioned Christopher Wren, and later Nicholas Hawksmoor, to build a Royal Hospital for Seamen on the site in 1692, which subsequently became the Royal Naval College and trained many of the great admirals of Britain and beyond until teaching finally ceased in 1998. The college is the architectural centrepiece of the complex with an iconic symmetrical Baroque design. Today, many of the buildings are occupied by the University of Greenwich. In recent years, it was also a filming location for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World. The National Maritime Museum was established in 1934 in buildings formerly used by the Royal Hospital School and contains a fantastic array of naval artifacts from Britain and around the world. This is free to enter. One item I found particularly remarkable was the fantastically well-preserved jacket worn by Lord Horatio Nelson at the decisive Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 where the entry point of the fatal musket ball is clearly visible in the left shoulder (see picture attached). On display not far away is the famed ship, the Cutty Sark, which has been conserved in dry dock since 1954. Built in 1869, it was one of the last of the great tea clippers, narrow sailing ships designed for speed in transporting cargo from the Far East back to Britain. Visitors can board the ship but only after purchasing a ticket. There is a package deal for the Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory to save costs but I would say that is only worth the effort if spending a whole day here. The OUV of the site was apparent, at least to my mind, in half that time and through only visiting the free entry attractions.