Historic timeline

Historic timeline

871

Alfred the Great inherits Greenwich from his father Ethulwulf and gives it to his daughter Elstrudis on her marriage to Baldwin II, Count of Flanders

918

Baldwin dies. Elstrudis gives Greenwich, Lewisham and Woolwich to the Abbey of St Peter, Ghent, in his memory

1012

Alfege, Archbishop of Canterbury, kidnapped and later murdered at Greenwich by Viking raiders. Later Saxon kings regain possession of Greenwich

1081

William the Conqueror confirms Greenwich as a possession of the Abbey of St Peter

1337

Edward III takes possession of the abbey lands for safety’s sake but establishes a house of minorite friars (1376)

1414-15

Henry V confiscates monastic lands, and creates the manor of Greenwich, which later passes to his brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

1433-7

Humphrey encloses the Park and builds ‘Greenwich tower’ and Bellacourt, the manor of ‘Pleasaunce’, absorbing earlier religious buildings by the river

1447

Humphrey dies under arrest at Bury St Edmunds, possibly murdered. Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI reacquires Greenwich for the Crown. Bellacourt extended as the Palace of Placentia

1485

Henry VII accedes to the throne and rebuilds Placentia as the Palace of Greenwich (c. 1500-1507)

1491

Henry VIII born at Greenwich

1509

Henry VIII succeeds his father and marries Catherine of Aragon in the Chapel of the Observant Friars at Greenwich Palace which remains the principal royal palace until the rebuilding of Whitehall (1529–36)

1511

Greenwich Armoury started. Henry founds Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards (c. 1512-13)

1515

Greenwich tower rebuilt as hunting lodge ('Greenwich Castle'). Tournament yard and towers built on site of current National Maritime Museum

1516

Henry and Catherine of Aragon’s daughter (Queen) Mary Tudor born at Greenwich

1533

Henry and Anne Boleyn’s daughter (Queen) Elizabeth born at Greenwich

1540

Henry marries Anne of Cleves at Greenwich. (Henry marries twice more and dies in 1547)

1553

Henry and Jane Seymour’s son, Edward VI, dies at Greenwich. His elder half-sisters succeed, Mary to 1558, then Elizabeth I to 1603. Both continue to use Greenwich Palace

1577

Elizabeth watches Drake’s Pelican (Golden Hind) leave for first English circumnavigation and knights him at Deptford on return in 1581

1587

Elizabeth signs Mary Queen of Scots' death warrant ‘from Greenwich, in haste'

1613

James I settles manor of Greenwich on his queen, Anne of Denmark. Trinity Hospital almshouse built; remodelled 1812

1616

Inigo Jones begins Queen’s House for Anne, bridging Woolwich to Deptford road. Work abandoned at her death in 1619

1632-35

Queen’s House finished for Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I: internally fitted by c.1638

1637

Sovereign of the Seas, the first 100-gun ship, built at Woolwich, using same carvers who worked in the Queen’s House. Final armour production at Greenwich

1642-9

Civil War. Queen’s House an official Parliamentary residence during Interregnum and, with Greenwich Palace, stripped of treasures. Placentia becomes biscuit factory and later prisoner-of-war camp in First Dutch War, then falls into decay

1660

Charles II restored to the throne

1664-72

New palace begun by John Webb. Queen’s House partly remodelled for Henrietta Maria in 1662 and Park redesigned by Le Nôtre

1672

Willem van de Veldes, father and son, come to England at invitation of Charles II and are given a studio in Queen’s House. Start of marine painting in England

1675-6

Observatory founded and constructed on site of ‘Greenwich Castle

1688–9

Glorious Revolution’: William III and Mary II become joint monarchs. Earl of Dorset appointed Ranger of the Park, with Queen’s House his official residence

1692–4

Mary revives her father James II’s idea of building a Royal Naval hospital, using unfinished palace site. She dies in December 1694 and William backdates founding charter to 25 October

1696

Wren lays out Hospital site and construction begins: c.1699 Earl of Romney, Ranger of the Park, diverts Woolwich to Deptford Road to modern position (Romney Road). Ranger’s House begun

1705

First Pensioners enter unfinished Hospital

1708–25

Thornhill decorates Painted Hall

1710

Old St Alfege’s church collapses. Rebuilt by Nicholas Hawksmoor, 1712-14 (consecrated 1718, medieval tower remodelled by John James, 1730)

1714

George of Hanover arrives at Greenwich to become king as George I

1715

First Hospital charity boys educated at Weston’s Academy

1718

Sir John Vanbrugh begins Vanbrugh Castle as his local home

1727

George II accedes

1731

The ‘Five-Foot Walk’ between the Hospital and river granted for public use

1735

George II grants the Hospital its Northern Estates, ensuring its completion and a future income. His statue by Rysbrack set up in Grand Square, made from a block of marble taken c. 1705 as prize from the French Admiral Rooke was carved at the expense (£400) of Admiral Sir John Jennings, the Hospital Governor.

1737

Hospital institutes Greenwich Market

1751

Greenwich Hospital finally completed

1758

Greenwich Hospital School built on King Street (now King William Walk) and boys transfer from Weston’s Academy

1764–8

Hospital Infirmary built by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart (now Greenwich University Dreadnought Building)

1766

First publication of The Nautical Almanac by 5th Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne

1779

Hospital Chapel interior gutted by fire, rebuilt by Stuart and William Newton and reopened in 1789

1782-3

Hospital School rebuilt on same site by Newton (building partly survives)

1795

Princess Caroline of Brunswick arrives at Greenwich to marry George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)

1806

Nelson’s body lies in state in Painted Hall before his funeral (on 9 January). Royal Naval Asylum (school for boys and girls) moves to Queen’s House

1807–11

Queen’s House extended by colonnades and flanking wings for Asylum

1815

Chesterfield House (now Ranger’s House) becomes official residence of Ranger of the Park

1821-25

Royal Naval Asylum and Greenwich Hospital School combine under Hospital administration, as ‘Upper and Lower Schools of Greenwich Hospital'

1824

Opening of ‘National Gallery of Naval Art’ in the Painted Hall (to 1936)

1833

Time-ball installed at Observatory

1836-8

Opening of the London and Greenwich Railway, the world’s first suburban line

1841

Education of girls discontinued at Hospital Schools

1851

7th Astronomer Royal (Sir) George Biddell Airy installs new Transit Circle at Observatory and establishes modern Longitude 0° meridian. Airy institutes dissemination of ‘Greenwich time’ by electric telegraph from 1852

1861–2

Philip Charles Hardwick extends west wings of School complex

1865–6

Great Eastern loads first successful Atlantic cable at Greenwich cable works. GMT transmitted to the ship through it during laying, for exact longitude, and to America on completion

1869

Greenwich Hospital closes as an invalid seamens' residential home

1870

(Merchant) Seaman’s Hospital Society takes over Hospital infirmary as Dreadnought Hospital

1873

Royal Naval College transferred from Portsmouth and School of Naval Architecture from Kensington to occupy Greenwich Hospital buildings. Hospital School gymnasium,‘Neptune’s Hall’ built, later National Maritime Museum large-exhibit gallery. (Final western extension - new dining hall wing- added to the Hospital School in 1876)

1880

GMT becomes legal time of Great Britain

1884

Longitude 0° at Greenwich becomes Prime Meridian of the World and official basis of International Time Zone System

1892

School becomes ‘Greenwich Royal Hospital School'

1894

28-inch Great Equatorial Telescope installed in enlarged dome of Observatory

1894–9

South Building of Observatory (New Physical Observatory) and Altazimuth Pavilion built

1919

New time-ball installed at the Observatory (as seen today)

1924

First broadcast of Greenwich time signal by BBC

1927

Admiralty agrees in principle to transfer of Greenwich collections to a national naval and merchant service museum, when established. ‘National Maritime Museum Trust’ created

1933

School moves to Holbrook, Suffolk. Greenwich buildings reserved for National Maritime Museum (founded 1934)

1937

National Maritime Museum opened by King George VI but largely closed - bits were open but high value collections removed - during World War II (1939–45). -

1939

Painted Hall restoration completed: reopens as RNC officers’ mess during World War II and thereafter

1945

Decision to move Observatory’s remaining scientific functions out of Greenwich

1953–8

Observatory buildings progressively transferred to National Maritime Museum

1954

Cutty Sark moved into dry-dock at Greenwich, restored, and opened to public in 1957 by HM Queen Elizabeth II

1960

Flamsteed House at the Observatory opened as part of National Maritime Museum

1967

Observatory conversion as part of National Maritime Museum opened

1968

Remodelling of ‘New Neptune Hall’ and most of National Maritime Museum galleries begins (to 1979)

1990

Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) moves from Herstmonceux to Cambridge

1992–3

Major restoration of Observatory

1995

Government announces closure of Royal Naval College in 1997–8

1997

National Maritime Museum Neptune Hall demolished for redevelopment. Millennium Dome construction begins. ‘Maritime Greenwich’ designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site

1998

Old Royal Naval College passes into the care of the Greenwich Foundation, set up to restore, maintain and interpret it. New University of Greenwich campus established on the site

1999

National Maritime Museum Neptune Court redevelopment completed. Docklands Light Railway opened to Greenwich

2001

Restoration of main Old Royal Naval College buildings completed; University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban students arrive

2005

London awarded 2012 Olympics, with equestrian events to take place in the World Heritage Site (Park and National Maritime Museum grounds)

2007

Opening of redeveloped South Building of Royal Observatory and of new Peter Harrison Planetarium

2009

Fire damages Cutty Sark during restoration work

2010

Opening of ‘Discover Greenwich’, the new World Heritage Site visitor centre

2011

Opening of the new Sammy Ofer Wing at the National Maritime Museum and of the restored Cutty Sark by HM The Queen

2012

London Olympics: Greenwich Park acts as the equestrian events venue. HM The Queen grants Greenwich the status of a Royal Borough

2014

New library and School of Architecture building for University of Greenwich completed on Stockwell Street (by Henegan Peng, architects). Shortlisted for 2015 Henegan/Riba Stirling Prize for Architecture

2015

Greenwich Hospital Estate upgrades the historic covered market

2017

Maritime Greenwich reaches a 20-year anniversary of the World Heritage Site inscription

2017

Service rooms from the Tudor Greenwich Palace’s Friary buildings revealed during excavations and can now be viewed beneath the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College

2019

Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College reopened after £8.5m conservation project which brought its magnificent painted interior vividly back to life

2021

Old Royal Naval College hosts to main spectacle in the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve broadcast show - fireworks, lasers and lights illuminate the skies above the World Heritage Site

2022

The Nelson room at the Old Royal Naval College reopens to the public following major renovation and access works

2022

Founded on 20 March 1997, The Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College celebrated its 25th anniversary