Greenwich Park and The Old Royal Naval College England

by Lexa Harpell

Title

Greenwich Park and The Old Royal Naval College England

Artist

Lexa Harpell

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

The Old Royal Naval College Greenwich England by Lexa Harpell.

Built in 1694 as a hospital for seamen and their dependents, later to become a naval training college.
The Old Royal Naval College sits on the banks of the Thames River in Greenwich England is now a World Heritage Site.
Is reckoned to be the "finest and most dramatically sited architectural and landscape ensemble in the British Isles".
Soaring pillars with highly ornate painted ceilings are captivating to the senses.
The original site of Palace Pacentia was one of King Henry VIII most favoured places and the birthplace of Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I - the Tudor Queens. The palace was destroyed and pulled down in the English Civil War.
The Naval College was built between 1696-1712.
**NOTE: It was also the site of the film 'Thor' when the craft landed.

Greenwich Park is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site in England.
Originally a hunting park for royalty, it is now one of the largest open green spaces in London - at 180 acres.

"The estate of some 200 acres (81 ha) was originally owned by the Abbey of St. Peter at Ghent, but reverted to the Crown in 1427 and was given by Henry VI to his uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.[2] He built a house by the river, Bella Court, and a small castle, called Greenwich Castle as well as Duke Humphrey�s Tower, on the hill. The former evolved first into the Tudor Palace of Placentia and then into the Queen's House and Greenwich Hospital. Greenwich Castle, by now in disrepair, was chosen for the site of the Royal Observatory by Charles II in 1675.

In the 15th century the park was mostly heathland and probably used for hawking. In the next century, deer were introduced by Henry VIII for hunting, and a small collection of deer is maintained today in an area to the south east. James I enclosed the park with a brick wall, twelve feet high and two miles (3 km) long at a cost of �2000, much of which remains and defines the modern boundary.

In the 17th century, the park was landscaped, possibly by Andr� Le N�tre who is known at least to have designed plans for it. The public were first allowed into the park during the 18th century. Samuel Johnson visited the park in 1763 and commented �Is it not fine?�. The famous hill upon which the observatory stands was used on public holidays for mass �tumbling�.

In the 1830s a railway was nearly driven through the middle of the lower park on a viaduct but the scheme was defeated by intense local opposition. However, the London and Greenwich Railway was later extended beneath the ground via a cut-and-cover tunnel link between Greenwich and Maze Hill which opened in 1878 (the tunnel alignment is on the north side of the northern side of the park's boundary wall, running beneath the gardens of the National Maritime Museum and Queen's House).

In 1888 the park got a station of its own when Greenwich Park railway station was opened. The station was not successful, with most passengers preferring the older Greenwich station, and in 1917 Greenwich Park station and the associated line closed.

IMAGE FEATURED IN THE FOLLOWING:
"Images that Excite You" 09/28/2016
"Fine Arts Professionals" 09/28/2016
No Place Like Home" 10/03/2016

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September 25th, 2016

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