By Christine Swan
I decided to visit Greenwich as my participation in Open City’s Open House Festival. My second port of call was the Old Royal Naval College, now inhabited by The University of Greenwich.
Greenwich Old Royal Naval College from the shore
My father joined the Royal Navy, aged fifteen, in 1941 – two years after the outbreak of World War II. He completed initial training in the unlikely setting of HMS Duke, Malvern, the centre of the country and about as far from the sea as it is possible to be.
He loved the great historic Naval sites of Dartmouth, and Greenwich, and I recall as a small child, being led around the Maritime Museum, a short distance away from the Naval College.
The stunningly impressive buildings stand on the southern bank of the Thames, a testament to Britain’s mighty Naval history. The complex was designed by famous architects, including Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir Christopher Wren. Wren spent twenty three years working on the project with the intention of creating a hospital suitable for elderly naval pensioners.
The central square in Queen Mary Court
Queen Mary wanted the Royal Hospital of Seamen to be a beautiful building, with a river view. Wren’s design was hugely sophisticated and eventually took fifty years to complete. During that time, several architects tackled different phases of the project. Consequently, different parts of the site appear quite different, even though, externally, symmetry was maintained.
A view along one colonnade
Hawksmoor was commissioned to rebuild churches after the Great Fire of London. Christ Church Spitalfields, and St George’s Bloomsbury are two that I have visited and have featured in posts. Complex ceiling mouldings and ornate “coffin” windows are indicative of his style. Queen Mary Court was my first tour venue and was mostly completed under Hawksmoor’s direction. The entire hospital was completed in 1751 and, eventually accommodated two thousand seven hundred men.
A coffin window and ornate ceiling plasterwork – Nicholas Hawksmoor’s work
Everybody is familiar with the famous Chelsea Pensioners on the North bank of the Thames, but the original purpose of the Greenwich Hospital is less well known. Pensioners wore a uniform and were provided with small rooms, arranged in wards, each shared with several other men. There were rules and, if broken, one punishment was to wear their jacket inside out, with the yellow lining on display. In one painting that we were shown, the pensioners were swilling beer, smoking and socialising. The yellow jacket appeared not to cramp the wearer’s style and there appeared no shame on their part.
Twenty three men were accommodated in this ward
Officers had more spacious and desirable quarters. Later accommodation included hammocks which would have been a familiar sleeping arrangement for the men, and also space-saving.
A very Hawksmoor fireplace
The retired seamen were offered accommodation and meals but there was a cost. For some, the rules were restrictive and they preferred to have their freedom to do as they pleased. The number of pensioners began to tail off, so the next challenge was how to use the magnificent buildings. A natural evolution was to use the site to train naval personnel.
The Royal Naval College dates from 1873 and occupied the site until 1997. It even had its own mini nuclear reactor, Jason, for naval personnel serving on nuclear submarines. Described as the University of the Navy, it was a prestigious training institution, and also a forwarding-thinking one, training the women’s navy too – the WRNS – the Wrens.
Part of the Wrens training wing
The site is now occupied by the University of Greenwich. The whole site Is maintained by the Greenwich Foundation and is Unesco listed. The University has made some alterations to meet its purposes, however, there are restrictions on what they can, and cannot alter. There are remnants of history everywhere.
The wash deck locker
We were taken to the Vice Chancellor’s office, which is stunning. The office looks out across the Thames, and appears almost to be at one with it. A huge desk, historic paintings and antique French mirrors, show that this was, and is, an important room. Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson was painted here. One story recounts that his body was bought here first after his death in 1805, at the Battle of Trafalgar, before being moved for his coffin to be displayed to the mourning public. Rather than arriving in a barrel, he had been transferred into a lead coffin during a stopover in Gibraltar. The coffin was then put on public display in the magnificent Painted Hall to lie in state for three days. There was a massive public outpouring of grief, with a crush of crowds wanting to pay their respects to their great hero.
The Thames races past
The Painted Hall is the jewel in the crown of the Old Royal Naval College. Painted between 1707 and 1726, it is difficult to believe that this was used as the pensioners dining hall. College trainees also ate here and it was only after the college closed that the hall was open to the public. In 2019 it underwent extensive restoration to its current, glorious state.
The Painted Hall
To fully appreciate the artistry, visitors are advised to utilise on the day beds, to lie back, and appreciate the paintings in their full glory. It was here that Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson lay in state. Here, thousands of naval pensioners ate their food, and Wrens perhaps contemplated their first deployment. The Baroque paintings feature magnificent beasts, kings, queens, and ships. Behind the Painted Hall, is the Nelson Room, decorated with statuary dedicated to the nation’s hero.
The stunning ceiling of the Painted Hall – as seen from a day bed
My visit was quite a swift one as a wedding party were waiting to set up in the Painted Hall. I headed out into the sunshine, bought some sweets in Greenwich Market, and headed for the DLR station for my return journey.
Inside the Nelson room
All photographs by the author
More information
Old Royal Naval College Greenwich – https://ornc.org/
