London Buildings Outside London Greenwich Naval CollegeGreenwich Naval College and Royal Observatory - Greenwich
Much of this great Baroque complex has been taken over by the University of Greenwich and Trinity College of Music. 
It remains one of the great set pieces of English architecture and urban planning, with peerless buildings by Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, among others, and a commanding setting overlooking the River Thames.
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich a World Heritage Site in Greenwich London, described by the UNESCO as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles”. The grounds and some of its buildings are open to visitors. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Greenwich Hospital, designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (formerly the Royal Greenwich Observatory or RGO) was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August. At this time the king also created the position of Astronomer Royal (initially filled by John Flamsteed), to serve as the director of the observatory and to "apply himself with the most exact care and diligence to the rectifying of the tables of the motions of the heavens, and the places of the fixed stars, so as to find out the so much desired longitude of places for the perfecting of the art of navigation." It is situated on a hill in Greenwich Park in Greenwich, London, overlooking the River Thames.
John Harrison, is the celebrated engineer who solved the Longitude problem facing ships navigating the globe (caused by the Earth constantly spinning on its axis). The prime meridian acts as a fixed point where distance travelled longitudinally is calculated by measuring the difference in time between the ship and this fixed point. Presently, atomic clocks are used, but the principal remains the same to this day. The fascinating history of John Harrison's stuggle to be understood and have his theories accepted by the establishment, is illuminated in Dava Sobel's Book 'Longitude'. The Harrison Clocks are located in the nearby Flamsteed House; part of the Royal Observatory.
National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, Greenwich, SE10 9NF.
