Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with a vanquished Louis XIV clutching a broken sword. Equally remarkable are
Thornhill's trompe-l'oeil
fluted pilasters and decorative detailing, while on the far wall,
behind the high table, Thornhill himself appears (bottom right) beside George I and
family, with St Paul's in the background. Designed as the sailors' dining hall, it was
later used for Nelson's lying-in-state in 1806 and then as a naval art gallery.
21
Chapel
he
Chapel
(service Sun 11am), in the east wing, was designed by James Stuart after a
fire in 1779 destroyed its predecessor. However, it is Stuart's assistant, William Newton,
whom we have to thank for the chapel's exquisite pastel and sky-blue plasterwork and
spectacular decorative detailing, among the finest in London. The altarpiece, by
Benjamin West, depicts St Paul wrestling with the viper that leapt out of the fire after
he was shipwrecked off Malta.
Discover Greenwich
If you're interested in Greenwich's rich history, you can get a good overview at
Discover
Greenwich
, in the Pepys Building, which has a permanent exhibition on the area.
Among the museum's prize possessions are
Beer
and
Gin
, two oak sculptures from the
buttery screen of old Greenwich Palace. Adults can learn about scagliola and Coade
stone, while junior Christopher Wrens can build their own version of Greenwich with
building blocks. The building also contains a tourist information o
ce and the Royal
Hospital's old brewhouse, which used to supply a ration of three pints to each seaman,
and has now been revived and turned into a micro-brewery.
National Maritime Museum
Romney Rd • Daily 10am-5pm, Thurs until 8pm • Free •
T
020 8858 4422,
W
rmg.co.uk • Cutty Sark DLR
The main building of the
National Maritime Museum
occupies the west wing of the
former Naval Asylum, and has two separate entrances: from Romney Road you enter
a glass-covered courtyard, while from the park, you enter the new Sammy Ofer Wing,
where the special exhibitions are staged. The museum's permanent galleries are ranged
over three floors, and imaginatively designed to appeal to visitors of all ages, with
plenty of hands-on stuff to keep children amused.
The museum also runs two other sights: the
Queen's House
, a beautiful Palladian villa
used to display the cream of the museum's vast maritime art collection, located close by
the main building (see p.318), and the
Royal Observatory
, perched on the hill in the
adjacent park (see p.320).
Ground floor: Royal Barge, Explorers and Voyagers
The main covered courtyard has several “streets” along the sides, which house some of
the museum's largest artefacts, among them the splendid 63ft-long
Royal Barge
, a
gilded Rococo confection designed by William Kent for Prince Frederick, the
much-unloved eldest son of George II. In the centre are a couple of galleries:
Maritime
London from 1700
and a temporary exhibition space.
To the side,
Explorers
takes you from the Vikings to Franklin's attempt to discover the
Northwest Passage; on display are the relics recovered from the Arctic by John Rae in
1854, many of which had to be bought from the local Inuit.
ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH
The
Royal Museums Greenwich
(RMG) is an umbrella name for the Cutty Sark, the National
Maritime Museum (NMM), the Queen's House and the Royal Observatory. As a national
museum, the permanent collection of the NMM remains free, and so too does the Queen's
House. For the other fee-paying venues, and for special exhibitions, you can buy a combined
ticket (£16), valid for thirty days.
