Maritime Greenwich

Moleitau. Greenwich Park, Royal Observatory Greenwich and National Maritime Museum in the Snow. 2 February 2009.

Greenwich London has always been home to the Royal Observatory and many other groundbreaking times for the Royal Navy. Despite Greenwich not properly being a part of London until much later in time, the area has served a significant purpose for a while. The official naming of Maritime Greenwich encompasses Royal Greenwich Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, and the Old Royal Naval College. As of 1997, the area was dedicated as a World Heritage site and recognized for its longstanding history of maritime ventures. As I’ve researched and done more and more digging in Greenwich, I have found that it is the ugly stepsister of London. The borough’s traffic of people pales in comparison to other more prominent boroughs, but the people of the borough keep its history intact. The Maritime Greenwich represents a glowing achievement for the British in many fields of science and technology. The observatory is still functioning today and has tons of invaluable information that anyone can visit and see. It is also home to the Prime Meridian Line which sets the standard for everyone else in the world. The National Maritime Museum has on display some of the oldest British, and not British, ships that are still together. The glimpse into the past is amazing to see how ships have changed and how Britain dominated the seas for hundreds of years. Finally, the Old Royal Naval College was one of the most pristine colleges that the Navy had. The college produced thousands of officers for the Navy and even had a section for women to train and join the Navy. The encirclement of all the historical sites under the Maritime Greenwich title and its becoming a World Heritage Site shows the distance traveled by the people of Greenwich. The museums serve as a timestamp of where Greenwich was and where it is going to go. 

 

sources:

“Greenwich.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/place/Greenwich-borough-London.

 

“Maritime Greenwich.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/795/.

 

Associated Place(s)

Event date:

1997

Parent Chronology: