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    • – Chingford (1822–1924)
    • – Deal (1864–1927)
    • – Abinger (1923–1957)
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    • – Bath (1939–1949)
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    • – Cape of Good Hope    (1959–1971)
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The Greenwich site

Flamsteed-House-c.1680

Greenwich, with London in the distance c.1680. The Observatory is depicted on the left, the River Thames on the right. Jan Vorsterman (Yale Center for British Art)

 

As a working institution, the Royal Observatory was located at the centre of Greenwich Park from the time of its founding in 1675 until the start of its move to Herstmonceux in the late 1940s. Parts of the site remained operational until late 1957.

Today, the buildings and  grounds are a Scheduled Ancient Monument at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are in the care of the National Maritime Museum.

If you are unfamiliar with the Observatory and its history it may helpful to start by reading:

A brief history of the Observatory

The Quest for Longitude and the Rise of Greenwich – a Brief History

 

Location map

Location: Blackheath Avenue, London SE10 8XJ

Historic maps of Greenwich

 

Buildings and grounds

Buildings

Grounds and Gardens

Building and site plans

Deteriorating conditions at Greenwich and the selection of the new location for the Observatory

The Observatory Library – its origin and subsequent evolution

 

Historic locations

The changing nomenclature of the Observatory buildings

Historic locations of the chronometer rooms

Historic locations of the library

The astronomical regulators and their historic locations

Inventories

 

In pictures

In Old Postcards

Aerial Views

Stereoviews

Magic Lantern slides

Old Postcards

Newsreels and historic movie clips

The Cecil Beaton photographs (1945)

The George Rodger photographs from the Life Photo Collection (September 1946)

 

Specific events, publications and activities

Flamsteed’s Historia Coelestis and the etchings of Francis Place – a comparative study

Burial places of the first nine Astronomers Royal

Christie’s ‘Lady Computers’ – the Astrographic pioneers of Greenwich

The Royal Observatory Hockey Club

The anarchist Bomb of 1894

Wartime (WW1 & 2)

Charitable garden parties

General Relativity and the 29 May 1919 Solar Eclipse

Visit of the International Hydrographic Conference, 26 June 1919

Visit of the King of Afghanistan, 2  March 1928

 

Anniversaries

Anniversary celebrations of the Observatory’s foundation (1875, 1925, 1975)

 

Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory

Greenwich Park 1660–1680

Historic plans of Greenwich Park: an illustrated catalogue (1660-1950)

The demolition of Greenwich Castle (on whose site the Observatory was built)

The ice house adjacent to the Observatory in Greenwich Park

The Royal Observatory and the Giant Steps (the Grand Ascent)

The great storm of 1703

Sheet music from 1746 – On Greenwich Park (complete with engraving of the Observatory)

Unveiling of the Wolfe Statue, 5 June 1930

 

Other information

Many aspects of the Observatory’s administration and work are covered under separate more general headings which can be accessed via the tabs to the left of this page.