A visit to Greenwich is the great day out or, if you want to explore the local area more thoroughly, then come and stay at The Mitre and use us as a base for your explorations! You can learn about Britain's seafaring history at the National Maritime Museum, discover the home of Greenwich Mean Time, explore antiques and collectibles markets and admire the last of the great tea clippers, the Cutty Sark, situated in the very heart of Greenwich, in a dry dock at the river's edge.

Getting to us is easy, rail links are possibly the best in south London with both Cutty Sark and Greenwich Docklands Light Railway stations providing links with Canary Wharf and Stratford. The nearby mainline station  links to Central London in around 10 minutes. On Greenwich peninsula, Greenwich North Jubilee line station has a journey time of about 20 minutes to Green Park.

The Cutty Sark was launched at Dumbarton on the River Clyde, Scotland, in 1869. The name comes from Robert Burns' poem, Tam O'Shanter; Tam meets a group of witches, most of whom are ugly, but for Nannie, who is young and beautiful and is described as wearing only a "cutty sark", i.e., a short chemise or shirt. The ship's figurehead is a representation of this witch.

The Cutty Sark's sleek lines and enormous area of sail made her the fastest ship in the race via the Cape of Good Hope for the then particularly money-spinning tea trade with China. Unluckily for her owners, the Suez Canal was opened in the same year as her launch, which is not navigable by sailing ships. Her last cargo of tea was carried in 1877.

The Royal Observatory stands as a monument to navigational research. It is the original home of Greenwich Mean Time and is famous being the source of the Prime Meridian line that divides the East from the West. The Greenwich Royal Observatory was founded by order of King Charles II to study astronomy and to fix longitude; see the page about the Prime Meridian. The oldest in the group of buildings comprising the observatory is Flamsteed House. It was built in 1675, with Sir Christopher Wren as the architect. The time ball on the roof was first erected in 1833, providing the first public time signal. At five minutes to one p.m. G.M.T. every day the ball rises half-way up the pole, reaching the top at two minutes to one. The ball drops at exactly one o'clock. Since the ball can be clearly seen from the river, ships have used the signal to check their time for many years.

The National Maritime Museum, Britain's seafaring history is displayed in this impressive modern museum. Themes include exploration and discovery, Nelson, 20th century seapower, trade and empire, passenger shipping, maritime London, costume, art and the sea and the future of the sea. The museum is formed from the Queen's House and two separate wings, joined by colonnades. The museum was first opened in 1937. The west and east wings, plus the linking colonnades, were built in 1807-16 by Daniel Alexander. They were built as extensions to the Naval Asylum School, which had recently moved into the Queen's House. The west wing has become much larger than the east because of a number of later extensions, and this holds the main body of the museum. The east wing is nowadays mostly used for special exhibitions. The number of exhibits in the museum is enormous as the intention is to show the entire history of mankind's association with the sea.

Here are some links that may help you to organise better your trip to enjoy the sights and sounds of Greenwich, we look forward to seeing you here at The Mitre!

Greenwich Council Site
Greenwich Guide