The Old Royal Naval College is awarded the Bronze Green Tourism Award

Isabel Keim

19 November 2008

The Old Royal Naval College is amongst London’s first heritage attractions to be awarded the Bronze award in the new Green Tourism for London scheme.

The Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College received the prestigious Bronze Award after a thorough application process and onsite inspection, which assessed the site’s waste management, water consumption, energy efficiency, visitor travel, purchasing and overall commitment towards the environment.

Since 1997, the Foundation has been responsible for restoring and conserving the magnificent baroque buildings and extensive grounds of the Old Royal Naval College. It is dedicated to working closely with its onsite partners, University of Greenwich, Trinity College of Music and Leith’s, to further improve its environmental performance.

Green Tourism for London was launched by the London Development Agency (LDA) in October 2007 to assess the environmental performance of London’s tourism product, which includes hotels, guest houses, attractions and venues.

Helen Beioley, Director of Development & Public Affairs, comments: “We are pleased to be at the vanguard of this new scheme and delighted to have gained the bronze status, which demonstrates that the Foundation is taking its environment policy seriously. We will be working closely with our site partners to build on what we have already achieved and hope to move up the awards status swiftly.”

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Notes to editors:

The Old Royal Naval College began life as Greenwich Hospital, which was established in 1694 by Royal Charter for the relief and support of seamen and their dependants and for the improvement of navigation. Sir Christopher Wren planned the site, described as "one of the most sublime sights English architecture affords", and, during the first half of the eighteenth century, various illustrious architects, such as Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, completed Wren's grand design.

In June 1705, the first Pensioners arrived and, by 1814, a total of 2,710 lived there. They lived on a diet of bread, beer and boiled meat and smoked their clay pipes or ‘chalks’ in the Chalk Walk, now the Skittle Alley. The Pensioners were given pocket money of 1s a week, which they supplemented by acting as caddies at Blackheath Golf Club and guides for visitors to Greenwich.

For three days in 1806, 5 – 7 January, Admiral Lord Nelson ‘lay-in-state’ in the Painted Hall. The Upper Hall was draped in black and arrayed with symbols of state mourning: banners, armorial escutcheons and sconced candles whilst the Lower Hall windows were draped and barriers erected to channel the expected crowds. Huge crowds were admitted (estimates range from 15,000 to 30,000) in a renewed outpouring of grief since the victory at Trafalgar. On the morning of the 8 January Nelson’s coffin was borne to the River where it was taken in a huge procession up the river to St Paul’s Cathedral for his state funeral.

In 1869 the Hospital was closed, and in 1873 the complex of buildings became the Royal Naval College, where officers from all over the world came to train in the naval sciences. The Navy moved out in 1998 to merge with the RAF and Army at a new Joint Services Staff College in Shrivenham.

With the departure of the Royal Navy from Greenwich, responsibility for the Old Royal Naval College passed to the Greenwich Foundation. The Foundation is a registered charity established to look after, and interpret, the buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation.

For further information, photographs and interviews please contact
Isabel Keim, Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College on 020 8269 4763 or email ikeim@greenwichfoundation.org.uk.