Old Royal Naval College

London, United Kingdom

Freely accessible

Public space — no opening hours to check.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Wheelchair access: Accessible

From OpenStreetMap — confirm before travelling

Find out more

The Old Royal Naval College occupies the architectural heart of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site on the Thames in London. Built between 1696 and 1712 as the Royal Navy's Greenwich Hospital, it was designed by Christopher Wren and executed in English Baroque style by Wren alongside John Webb, Nicholas Hawksmoor, and John Vanbrugh. The design ingeniously incorporated the earlier Queen's House, preserving its long axial view to the river. After the hospital closed in 1869, the Grade I listed buildings served as the Royal Naval College, Greenwich from 1873 to 1998. UNESCO recognizes the ensemble as possessing "outstanding universal value" and considers it the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles." Today, managed by the Greenwich Foundation since 1997, the site functions as a cultural destination and museum.