Maritime Greenwich

• Official name: Maritime Greenwich
• Location: London Borough of Greenwich, England
• Type: Cultural
• Year of inscription: 1997

Maritime Greenwich is a historical and cultural region that celebrates the English traditions of seafaring, scientific discovery, medicine, and education. The term “Maritime Greenwich” refers to areas of the city that were most active in these pursuits from the Middle Ages through the 1900s. In modern times, Greenwich has been elevated to the role of Royal Borough, significantly expanding its geographic scope into areas such as Charlton, Woolwich, and Eltham that are not generally considered part of the historic district or World Heritage Site.

Located in southern England, Greenwich is closely associated with London, the capital city of England, and occupies a place in the county of Kent on the River Thames. The Thames is a major river in England and has for many centuries served to connect London with the rest of the British Isles, as well as England with the rest of the world. Accordingly, a major seagoing industry has long thrived in and around Greenwich.

Much of Greenwich contains green space, largely open to public use. The city, particularly the historic districts, also contains a high density of important structures, including the Old Royal Naval College, Royal Greenwich Observatory, and National Maritime Museum. Many historic structures reflect the importance of Greenwich to the English royal families; an example is the Queen’s House, designed in the 1600s by architect Inigo Jones.

Since the nineteenth century, Greenwich has been central to the study of navigation, time, and communication. This fact is largely due to the city’s establishment as zero degrees in longitude (the vertical measurement of Earth) at a spot known as the Greenwich meridian (or prime meridian).

History

The history of Greenwich can be traced back to the Middle Ages, with historians marking 871 as the year when the area came under the control of Saxon King Alfred the Great. The land, largely valued for its location by the Thames, was subsequently gifted to the Abbey of St. Peter in Ghent (Belgium) in 918. Despite the religious oversight of the area, it was a volatile and sometimes violent place, subject to raids by Viking marauders, including one in 1012 that claimed the life of Alfege, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, William the Conqueror took a keen interest in the land, and subsequent rulers asserted control over it more directly. King Edward III declared himself the protector of the land in 1337, and around 1415, King Henry V confiscated the land outright, beginning the ongoing connection between Greenwich and the English monarchy. Monarchs promoted the building of towers, palaces, and military installations in the settlement. Meanwhile, many notable English leaders, notably Henry VIII, were born in or ruled from the growing city.

To accommodate these luminaries, top architects of the day, such as Inigo Jones and John Webb, created elegant structures such as the Queen’s House, originally meant for Queen Anne. Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, Greenwich also became renowned for its maritime—or seafaring—culture and facilities because of its proximity to the River Thames. It also became an important meeting place for sailors, and by the start of the eighteenth century, a hospital had been set up there for old and ailing Royal Navy personnel.

The city’s medical facilities, along with a variety of other helpful amenities such as schools and markets, helped its expansion in the coming generations. The royal patronage and brisk sea activity led to a focus on science and learning, as demonstrated by the construction of the Greenwich Observatory starting in 1675, and schools of medicine such as the Greenwich Hospital School. Art, too, thrived in the city, particularly art that stressed the beauty of the seas, which led to the opening of the National Gallery of Naval Art in 1824.

Another scientific breakthrough that would ultimately define Greenwich’s importance to the wider world occurred in 1851. That year, astronomer Sir George Biddell Airy created a Transit Circle at the Greenwich Observatory and declared that a particular spot within the city would be thereafter considered zero degrees on the scale of longitude. The study of longitude (along with latitude) revolutionized understanding of the shape and size of Earth and travelers’ ability to safely navigate over great distances. It also helped people establish a universal means of keeping time, subsequently termed “Greenwich time.” The centrality of Greenwich to time and travel also made it an important center for communications, as in its role in the creation of the first telegraph line to span the Atlantic Ocean, completed in 1866.

Science and education remained a major focus in Greenwich, evidenced by events such as the arrival of the Royal Naval College and School of Naval Architecture in 1873 and the later establishment of museums dedicated to England’s rich maritime legacy. In the last decade of that century, the Observatory was greatly expanded to include the South Building and the Altazimuth Pavilion.

Studies at Greenwich were largely suspended during World War II (1939–1945) due to the threat of air raids, but activity slowly resumed in the postwar period. In 1954, Greenwich gained one of its most enduring landmarks with the permanent dry-docking of the Cutty Sark, a nineteenth-century clipper ship famous in its era for its considerable sailing speed.

In the coming decades, many facilities were updated, removed, or added to Greenwich. In 1997, the construction of Greenwich’s Millennium Dome commenced even as a large section of the National Maritime Museum was razed. Also during that year, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officials declared that Greenwich—particularly “Maritime Greenwich”—would thereafter be considered a World Heritage Site, a rare and prestigious honor that would help to assure the city’s continued preservation. In the twenty-first century, Greenwich remained a valuable part of England’s cultural legacy, for the country’s massive strides in seafaring and science and a draw for millions of tourists.

Significance

Maritime Greenwich earned the distinction of being named a World Heritage Site in 1997 by UNESCO officials, who search the world for sites of cultural, historic, and natural value. The designation helps to bring attention to the site, as well as to afford it greater preservation and protection from alterations or development.

The choice of Maritime Greenwich was based on several criteria. Mainly, the criteria deal with the grand, well-preserved architecture of the area, which demonstrates not only important historical styles but also the work of great individual designers such as Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren. Among the most notable of these structures are the Palace, the Royal Naval College, the Royal Observatory, and the buildings of the Royal Park.

In addition, Maritime Greenwich is valued for its role in the advancement of science, primarily in astronomy, navigation, and the measurement of time. Greenwich developments led to the establishment of Greenwich Mean Time as well as the Greenwich meridian, advances that indelibly changed the world.

Greenwich has longstanding ties to the English monarchy that may be traced at least as far back as the fifteenth century. Royal attention and patronage greatly expanded the city and prompted the construction of lavish works of architecture. The presence of royals and other luminaries also meant that many history-making events and decisions took place there.

The city’s prime position on the Thames gave it a natural advantage as a port town. In the seventeenth century, the busy sea traffic led to the construction of the Royal Observatory, which would make tremendous strides to uncover the secrets of the heavens and apply them to practical navigation. At the same time, accommodations for ill and elderly seafarers in the area led to a focus on medicine and welfare that created its own innovations for future generations.

The environment of science and culture in Greenwich sparked the growth of schools and universities as well. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, learning facilities such as the Royal Naval College, the University of Greenwich, and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance took hold in the area. Greenwich draws far more than students and sea travelers; millions of tourists come to see its cultural and historical wonders. The Meridian Line and the dry-docked Cutty Sark ship are some of the most popular sites. In 2012, Greenwich partly hosted the Olympic Games in nearby London.

Bibliography

Davey, James and Richard Blakemore. The Maritime World of Early Modern Britain. Amsterdam University Press, 2020.

“Historic Timeline.” Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, www.greenwichworldheritage.org/maritime-greenwich/history/historic-timeline. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Maritime Greenwich.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/795. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Maritime Greenwich: World Heritage and Captivating Museums.” Come to London, www.come-to-london.com/maritime-greenwich-world-heritage-and-captivating-museums-s703. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Our History.” Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, www.greenwichworldheritage.org/maritime-greenwich/our-history. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

“Royal History.” Royal Museums Greenwich, www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/royal-history-greenwich. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.