Photo: londondrum.comUseful things to know before your visit
Address: Old Royal Naval College, King William Walk, Greenwich SE10 9NN. Telephone: 0208 269 4799. Website: ornc.org
How much do the tickets cost?
The Chapel and grounds are free. Adult tickets for the Painted Hall are from £19. Children (under-17) are free.
What are the opening hours?
Opening times for the grounds are 8am to 11pm (Mon-Sun). The Chapel and Painted Hall are 10am to 5pm (Mon-Sun). Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
How much time do you need?
A typical visit to the Old Royal Naval College takes 1 hour.
Which buses go to the Old Royal Naval College?
Bus routes 129, 177, 188, 199, 286 and 386 all stop close by.
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is Cutty Sark on the Docklands Light Railway. It only takes two minutes to walk to the Old Royal Naval College.
Which other attractions are nearby?
Here are four attractions within 15 minutes walk of the Old Royal Naval College: Cutty Sark, National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House and Royal Observatory.
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Email My review of the Old Royal Naval College
My favourite days at the Old Royal Naval College have all involved me walking around in the sun (because it’s always sunny here) and hearing some classical music drifting out of the open windows. If ever a place was made for classical music then it’s here. You feel like there should be some Regency dandies walking around the gravel paths and women with big white wigs and parasols. This is Christopher Wren country. He certainly earned his wages when he designed this place.
Maritime Greenwich
Here’s a tip: the first time you come here make sure you’re sitting on a boat from Big Ben to Greenwich, because you need to see the two wings from the river to get the full effect. When the boat floats into the pier you will have the Cutty Sark on your right and the college on your left. Resist the temptation to walk inland and have a stroll along the waterfront instead. When you round the corner of the first wing the whole vista will open up and there’s your first photograph, right there.
Back in the old days this was where we trained all our navy sailors, admirals and captains, and you can just picture them strolling around the grounds in their smart white uniforms (I’m thinking of Richard Gere in An Officer And A Gentlemen). But all you see nowadays are tourists, teachers and music students from the Trinity College of Music with their big bassoons, trumpets and drums (that’s where all of the classical music comes from).
The Painted Hall & Chapel
There are only two real rooms that the public can look inside, and you’ll find them in the middle of each wing – the famous Painted Hall and Chapel.
The Painted Hall dates back to a time when the college was still a home for injured seamen. The entire room is one giant painting and it took Sir James Thornhill nineteen years to complete, which goes some way towards describing how fantastic it is – it’s Britain’s equivalent of the Sistine Chapel.
I feel a bit daft describing it on paper because it’s one of those rooms that you really have to see to believe. Sometimes it’s better just to say nothing and let you be gobsmacked when you walk through the door.
It’s not the painting that impresses in the chapel but all the carved plasterwork on the ceiling. It looks like one of those Wedgwood china teapots.
The Old Royal Naval College appears in my how to spend a week in London itinerary
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What do you think? (3)
Ask a question, or share your experience of the Old Royal Naval College
jon How much does it cost. (reply)
Craig It’s free to see inside the chapel and Painted Hall, but they do ask for donations if you want to leave one. (reply)
Mal What an amazing place to visit, and for free. The painted hall is one of the masterpieces of London and everyone should try and see it. So many people come to Greenwich and don’t know it’s there, and what a loss that is for them. (reply)
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