A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater , as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word jetée , "thrown", signifying something thrown out.
92-576: The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South East London , England . It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames , between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the south-east is Charlton . Formerly known as Greenwich Marshes and as Bugsby's Marshes , it became known as East Greenwich as it developed in
184-863: A cable car over the River Thames just before the 2012 Summer Olympics began. This runs from a riverside station south-east of the O 2 over the river to the Royal Victoria Dock west of the ExCeL Centre . Adjacent to the cable car terminus was a large temporary building housing the London Soccer Dome, formerly the David Beckham Academy . This opened in 2005 but closed in 2014, with the main structures being dismantled, transported and re-erected in Southend ;
276-421: A gunpowder magazine on the west side of the peninsula, which was in operation by 1695, serving as the government's primary magazine (where newly milled powder was stored before it was sent out, on board specially equipped hoys ). Alongside the magazine were a wharf, a proof house and accommodation for the resident Storekeeper. From the early 18th century, however, local residents began petitioning Parliament for
368-450: A depth of 22.75 feet (6.93 m). below low water of spring tides; and their solid masonry portion, on a concrete foundation was raised 50 feet (15 m). above low water of neap tides . A small tidal rise spreading tidal water over a large expanse of lagoon or inland backwater causes the influx and efflux of the tide to maintain a deep channel through a narrows no longer confined by a bank on each side, becomes dispersed, and owing to
460-570: A large jetty used to unload coal and load coke. There were two huge gas holders , of 8.6 and 12.2 million ft (240,000 m and 345,000 m). The larger holder, originally the largest in the world, was reduced to 8.9 million ft (250,000 m) when it was damaged in the Silvertown explosion in 1917, but was still the largest in England until it was damaged again by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb in 1978. Originally manufacturing gas from coal ,
552-406: A plan was presented to Parliament for a huge dock occupying much of the peninsula, connected to Greenwich Reach to the west and Bugsby's Reach to the east, but this came to nothing. Early industries included Henry Blakeley's Ordnance Works making heavy guns, with other sites making chemicals, submarine cables, iron boats, iron and steel. Henry Bessemer built a steel works in the early 1860s to supply
644-542: A public sculpture trail spanning the River Thames .) Two phases of Greenwich Millennium Village , a mixed-tenure residential development designed by architect Ralph Erskine , with a primary school, a medical centre, a nature reserve with associated education centre have been completed. A Holiday Inn hotel was also built nearby, and the Greenwich Yacht Club was relocated to a new site south-east of
736-464: A river, at intervals, to contract a wide channel , and by concentration of the current to produce a deepening. Jetties have been constructed on each side of the outlet river of some of the rivers flowing into the Baltic , with the objective of prolonging the scour of the river and protecting the channel from being shoaled by the littoral drift along the shore. Another application of parallel jetties
828-412: A small tidal range, the sea is liable on an exposed coast to block up its outlet during severe storms. The river is thus forced to seek another exit at a weak spot of the beach, which along a low coast may be at some distance off; and this new outlet in its turn may be blocked up, so that the river from time to time shifts the position of its mouth. This inconvenient cycle of changes may be stopped by fixing
920-533: Is an area in south-east London , England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London . It is situated 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-south-east of Charing Cross . Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time . The town became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia , from the 15th century and
1012-441: Is guided and protected across the beach by parallel jetties. In some cases, these are made solid up to a little above low water of neap tides , on which open timber-work is erected, provided with a planked platform at the top raised above the highest tides. In other cases, they consist entirely of solid material without timber-work. The channel between the jetties was originally maintained by tidal scour from low-lying areas close to
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#17327723224141104-701: Is in lowering the bar in front of one of the mouths of a deltaic river flowing into a tide — a virtual prolongation of its less sea, by extending the scour of the river out to the bar by banks. Jetties prolonging the Sulina branch of the Danube into the Black Sea , and the south pass of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico , formed of rubble stone and concrete blocks, and respectively, have enabled
1196-529: Is next to North Greenwich Underground station , about 3 miles (4.8 km) north east from the Greenwich town centre, north west of Charlton . Pear Tree Wharf was associated with the gas works, being used to unload coal for the manufacturing of town gas, and is now home to the Greenwich Yacht Club . The Greenwich Millennium Village is a modern urban regeneration development to the south of
1288-681: Is now being developed with new homes at Peninsula Riverside, and Parkside Peninsula Quays. The redevelopment of Greenwich Peninsula is planned to take around 20 years. The improved access to the peninsula from Canary Wharf , the City and the West End via the Jubilee line has increased the prospects for continued residential regeneration . Greenwich Greenwich ( / ˈ ɡ r ɛ n ɪ tʃ / GREN -itch , /- ɪ dʒ / -ij , / ˈ ɡ r ɪ n -/ GRIN - )
1380-728: Is now the Royal Borough of Greenwich , a local authority district of Greater London. The place-name 'Greenwich' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 918, where it appears as Gronewic . It is recorded as Grenewic in 964, and as Grenawic in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1013. It is Grenviz in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Grenewych in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291. The name means 'green wic' , indicating that Greenwich
1472-726: The Blackwall Tunnel , remains solidly working class , the manpower for one eighth of London's heavy industry . West Greenwich is a hybrid: the spirit of Nelson, the Cutty Sark , the Maritime Museum, an industrial waterfront and a number of elegant houses, ripe for development. Royal charters granted to English colonists in North America, as well as in Company Bombay and St Helena , often used
1564-758: The London and Greenwich Railway (L&GR) completed the first steam railway in London. It started at London Bridge and had its terminus at London Street (now Greenwich High Road). It was also the first to be built specifically for passengers, and the first ever elevated railway, having 878 arches over its almost four mile stretch. South of the railway's viaduct over Deptford Creek is a Victorian pumping station constructed in 1864 as part of Sir Joseph Bazalgette 's London sewerage system (the Southern Outfall Sewer flows under Greenwich town centre). In 1853
1656-545: The London underground , it is now oil- and gas-powered and serves as a backup station for London Underground. East Greenwich also has a small park, East Greenwich Pleasaunce , which was formerly the burial ground of Greenwich Hospital. The O 2 (formerly the Millennium Dome ) was built on part of the site of East Greenwich Gas Works , a disused British Gas site on the Greenwich Peninsula . It
1748-648: The Old Royal Naval College for the company's 150th-anniversary celebrations. To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II , it was announced on 5 January 2010 that on 3 February 2012 the London Borough of Greenwich would become the fourth to have Royal Borough status, the others being the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames , the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead . The status
1840-457: The River Thames . Along with Blackheath Westcombe, Charlton , Glyndon, Woolwich Riverside, and Woolwich Common , it elects a Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenwich and Woolwich ; currently the MP is Matthew Pennycook . The town of Greenwich is built on a broad platform to the south of the outside of a broad meander in the River Thames, with a safe deep water anchorage lying in the river. To
1932-462: The Spanish Armada campaign there in 1588. James I carried out the final remodelling work on Greenwich Palace, granting the manor to his wife Queen Anne of Denmark . In 1616 Anne commissioned Inigo Jones to design and build the surviving Queen's House as the final addition to the palace. Charles I granted the manor to his wife Queen Henrietta Maria , for whom Inigo Jones completed
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#17327723224142024-482: The terra regis , while all others held their lands, directly or indirectly, under the monarch. Land outside the physical boundaries of England, as in America, was treated as belonging constructively to one of the existing royal manors, and from Tudor times grants frequently used the name of the manor of East Greenwich, but some 17th-century grants named the castle of Windsor . Places in North America that have taken
2116-598: The 17th century and formed from the hunting grounds of the Royal Palace of Placentia . The park rises towards Blackheath and at the top of this hill is a statue of James Wolfe , commander of the British expedition to capture Quebec . Nearby a major group of buildings within the park includes the former Royal Observatory, Greenwich ; the Prime Meridian passes through this building. Greenwich Mean Time
2208-686: The 1950s by a new station which ceased operation in about 1981. On the western shore, a large area including the site of the Victoria linoleum works later became the Victoria Deep Water Terminal in 1966, handling container traffic. At the southwestern end of the peninsula Enderby's Wharf was occupied by a succession of famous submarine cable companies from 1857 onwards, including Glass Elliot, W T Henley , Telcon, Submarine Cables Ltd, STC , Nortel and Alcatel . The peninsula remained relatively remote from central London until
2300-545: The 19th century, but more recently has been called North Greenwich due to the location of the North Greenwich Underground station (not to be confused with North Greenwich on the Isle of Dogs, at the north side of a former ferry from Greenwich). The peninsula's northernmost point on the riverside is known as Blackwall Point , and this may have led to the name Blackwall Peninsula sometimes being used in
2392-624: The 19th century. When the County of London , an administrative area designed to replace the Metropolitan Board of Works , was formed in 1889, the parish merged with those of Charlton-next-Woolwich , Deptford St Nicholas and Kidbrooke to create the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich . When local government in London was again reformed in 1965 , it merged with most of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich , creating what
2484-491: The 20th century came bronze manufacturers Delta Metals and works making asbestos and 'Molassine Meal' animal feed. For over 100 years the peninsula was dominated by the gasworks which primarily produced town gas , also known as coal gas . The gasworks grew to 240 acres (0.97 km), the largest in Europe , also producing coke, tar and chemicals as important secondary products. The site had its own extensive railway system and
2576-691: The A102 Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach to provide district heating to an eventual total of 15,700 properties on the peninsula. It is operated by Pinnacle Power for Greenwich Peninsula ESCO Limited. A 49 m high tower forms part of the energy centre, designed by C. F. Møller Architects , and was completed in 2016. The tower is clad in a complex metal cladding formed of hundreds of triangular patterns (initially titled 'Lenticular Dazzle Camouflage'), designed by British artist Conrad Shawcross . The tower cladding later featured as part of an art trail around north Greenwich, with
2668-614: The Adur near Shoreham , and of the Adour flowing into the Bay of Biscay below Bayonne. When a new channel was cut across the Hook of Holland to provide a straighter and deeper outlet channel for the river Meuse , forming the approach channel to Rotterdam , low, broad, parallel jetties, composed of fascine mattresses weighted with stone, were carried across the foreshore into the sea on either side of
2760-546: The Cutty Sark site, a circular building contains the entrance to the Greenwich foot tunnel , opened on 4 August 1902. This connects Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs on the northern side of the River Thames. The north exit of the tunnel is at Island Gardens , from where the famous view of Greenwich Hospital painted by Canaletto can be seen. Rowing has been part of life on the river at Greenwich for hundreds of years and
2852-519: The Dome. North Greenwich tube station on the Jubilee line opened in 1999. It is one of the largest London Underground stations and also has a bus station . The North Greenwich Pier offering commuter boat services to other parts of London, both east and west, is located on the Thames on the east side of the peninsula. In 2004 outline planning permission was granted for further large-scale redevelopment of
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2944-534: The Dome. Enderby's Wharf is a site associated with submarine cable manufacture for over 150 years. South of the former Naval College is the National Maritime Museum housed in buildings forming another symmetrical group and grand arcade incorporating the Queen's House , designed by Inigo Jones . Continuing to the south, Greenwich Park is a Royal Park of 183 acres (0.7 km ), laid out in
3036-557: The Franciscan Observants were suppressed; refounded as Franciscan Conventual, the friary was dissolved in 1538, then re-established in 1555 for Observants, before the friars were finally expelled in 1559 and the friary was demolished in 1662. Ultimately it was because the palace and its grounds were a royal possession (with a useful hill) that it was chosen as the site for Charles II 's Royal Observatory, from which stemmed Greenwich's subsequent global role as originator of
3128-639: The King Charles block was completed. Charles II also redesigned and replanted Greenwich Park and founded and built the Royal Observatory . Prince James (later King James II & VII ), as Duke of York and Lord Admiral until 1673, was often at Greenwich with his brother Charles and, according to Samuel Pepys , he proposed the idea of creating a Royal Naval Hospital. This was eventually established at Greenwich by his daughter Mary II , who in 1692–1693 commissioned Christopher Wren to design
3220-649: The King William building that was operational between 1962 and 1996. The reactor was decommissioned and removed in 1999. To the east of the Naval College is the Trinity Hospital almshouse, founded in 1613, the oldest surviving building in the town centre. This is next to the massive brick walls and the landing stage of Greenwich Power Station . Built between 1902 and 1910 as a coal-fired station to supply power to London's tram system , and later
3312-517: The London shipbuilding industry, but this closed as a result of a fall in demand due to the financial crisis of 1866 . Later came oil mills, shipbuilding (for example the 1870 clippers Blackadder and Hallowe'en built by Maudslay), boiler making, manufacture of Portland cement and linoleum (Bessemer's works became the Victoria linoleum works) and the South Metropolitan Gas company's huge East Greenwich Gas Works . Early in
3404-765: The Queen's House. During the English Civil War , the palace was used as a biscuit factory and prisoner-of-war camp. Then, in the Interregnum , the palace and park were seized to become a 'mansion' for the Lord Protector . By the time of the Restoration , the Palace of Placentia had fallen into disuse and was pulled down. New buildings began to be established as a grand palace for Charles II , but only
3496-436: The River Thames off Greenwich for over three years, with the army being encamped on the hill above. From here they attacked Kent and, in the year 1012, took the city of Canterbury , making Archbishop Alphege their prisoner for seven months in their camp at Greenwich, at that time within the county of Kent. They stoned him to death for his refusal to allow his ransom (3,000 pieces of silver) to be paid; and kept his body, until
3588-575: The Royal Hospital for Seamen (now the Old Royal Naval College ). The work was begun under her widower William III in 1696 and completed by Hawksmoor . Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark continued to patronise the project. George I landed at Greenwich from Hanover on his accession in 1714. His successor George II granted the Royal Hospital for Seamen the forfeited estates of the Jacobite Earl of Derwentwater , which allowed
3680-525: The bar, and lower it by scour. Thus the available depth of the approach channels to Venice through the Malamocco and Lido outlets from the Venetian Lagoon have been deepened several feet (metres) over their bars by jetties of rubble, carried out across the foreshore into deep water on both sides of the channel. Other examples are provided by the long jetties extended into the sea in front of
3772-629: The beginning of civil registration in 1837, the boundary running down what is now Greenwich Church Street and Croom's Hill , although more modern references to " East " and " West " Greenwich probably refer to the areas east and west of the Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum corresponding with the West Greenwich council ward . An article in The Times of 13 October 1967 stated: East Greenwich , gateway to
Greenwich Peninsula - Misplaced Pages Continue
3864-407: The blossoming of a stick that had been immersed in his blood. For this miracle his body was released to his followers, he achieved sainthood for his martyrdom and, in the 12th century, the parish church was dedicated to him. The present church on the site west of the town centre is St Alfege's Church , designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1714 and completed in 1718. The Domesday Book of 1086 records
3956-618: The building to be completed by 1751. In 1805, George III granted the Queen's House to the Royal Naval Asylum (an orphanage school), which amalgamated in 1821–1825 with the Greenwich Hospital School. Extended with the buildings that now house the National Maritime Museum , it was renamed the Royal Hospital School by Queen Victoria in 1892. George IV donated nearly 40 paintings to
4048-620: The buildings are let to the University of Greenwich and one, the King Charles block, to Trinity College of Music . Within the complex is the former college dining room, the Painted Hall , this was painted by James Thornhill , and the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul , with an interior designed by James 'Athenian' Stuart . The Naval College had a training reactor, the JASON reactor , within
4140-427: The coast, and subsequently by the current from sluicing basins; but it is now often considerably deepened by sand-pump dredging . It is protected to some extent by the solid portion of the jetties from the inroad of sand from the adjacent beach, and from the levelling action of the waves; while the upper open portion serves to indicate the channel and to guide the vessels, if necessary (see harbor ). The bottom part of
4232-490: The creation of the National Maritime Museum , and Mary presented the museum with many items. The Prince Albert, Duke of York (later George VI ), laid the foundation stone of the new Royal Hospital School when it moved out to Holbrook , Suffolk. In 1937 his first public act as king (three weeks before coronation) was to open the National Maritime Museum in the buildings vacated by the school. The king
4324-425: The discharge of these rivers to scour away the bars obstructing the access to them; and they have also carried the sediment-bearing waters sufficiently far out to come under the influence of littoral currents, which, by conveying away some of the sediment, postpone the eventual formation of a fresh bar farther out (see river engineering ). Where a river is narrow near its mouth, has a generally feeble discharge and
4416-483: The docks. Solid jetties, moreover, lined with quay walls, are sometimes carried out into a wide dock, at right angles to the line of quays at the side, to enlarge the accommodation; and they also serve, when extended on a large scale from the coast of a tideless sea under shelter of an outlying breakwater, to form the basins in which vessels lie when discharging and taking in cargoes in such a port as Marseille . The approach channel to some ports situated on sandy coasts
4508-537: The early 1990s has brought about some dramatic changes in the peninsula's topography. In 1997 the national regeneration agency English Partnerships (later renamed the Homes and Communities Agency, now Homes England ) purchased 1.21 square kilometres (300 acres) of disused land on the peninsula. The agency's investment of over £225m has helped to enhance the transport network and create new homes, commercial space and community facilities and to open up access to parkland along
4600-538: The east between the Vanbrugh and Maze Hill Gates is the site of a Roman villa or temple. A small area of red paving tesserae protected by railings marks the spot. It was excavated in 1902 and 300 coins were found dating from the emperors Claudius and Honorius to the 5th century. This was excavated by the Channel 4 television programme Time Team in 1999, broadcast in 2000, and further investigations were made by
4692-603: The east, on Croom's Hill , was constructed inside the shell of a Victorian music hall. Beginning life in 1855 as an annexe to the Rose and Crown, the music hall was rebuilt in 1871 by Charles Crowder and subsequently operated under many names. Further south on Croom's Hill, the Roman Catholic church of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was opened in 1851. The meridian was established in 1851. George V and Queen Mary both supported
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#17327723224144784-471: The easterly drift, but the bar in front has been lowered by the scour produced by the discharge of the river following the concave bend of the southwest jetty. As the outer portion of this jetty was exposed to westerly storms from the Bay of Biscay before the outer harbour was constructed, it has been given the form and strength of a breakwater situated in shallow water. Where docks are given sloping sides, openwork timber jetties are generally carried across
4876-409: The first Greenwich Regatta was held in 1785. The annual Great River Race along the Thames Tideway finishes at the Cutty Sark. The nearby Trafalgar Rowing Centre in Crane Street is home to Curlew and Globe rowing clubs. The Old Royal Naval College is Sir Christopher Wren 's domed masterpiece at the centre of the heritage site. The site is administered by the Greenwich Foundation and several of
4968-455: The hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance . The town became a popular resort in the 18th century and many grand houses were built there, such as Vanbrugh Castle (1717) established on Maze Hill, next to the park. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above
5060-423: The hospital in 1824, at a stroke creating a gallery in the Painted Hall . These now form the Greenwich Hospital Collection at the National Maritime Museum. Subsequently, William IV and Queen Adelaide were both regular donors and visitors to the gallery. Queen Victoria rarely visited Greenwich, but in 1845 her husband Prince Albert personally bought Nelson's Trafalgar coat for the Naval Gallery. In 1838
5152-407: The late 20th century. Landmarks include The Dome (also known by the current corporate logo The O 2 and previously the Millennium Dome ), the southern end of the Blackwall Tunnel and the western end of the Silvertown Tunnel , but the area is now being substantially redeveloped with new homes, offices, schools and parks. Ravensbourne University London , a media and design university built on
5244-400: The local Scottish Presbyterian community built a church, St Mark's, nearby which was extended twice in the 1860s during the ministry of Adolph Saphir , eventually accommodating 1,000 worshippers. In 1864 opposite the railway terminus, theatrical entrepreneur Sefton Parry built the thousand seater New Greenwich Theatre . William Morton was one of its more successful managers. The theatre
5336-416: The magazine (and its dangerous contents in particular) to be removed; this eventually led to the establishment of a new set of Royal Gunpowder Magazines down river at Purfleet , which was opened in 1765. By 1771 gunpowder was no longer stored at Greenwich, though the buildings remained in situ for some decades afterwards. The peninsula was steadily industrialised from the early 19th century onwards. In 1857
5428-488: The manor (for life) to Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter , who died at Greenwich in 1426. The palace was created by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , Henry V's younger brother and regent to his son - Henry VI - in 1447; he enclosed the park and erected a tower ( Greenwich Castle ) on the hill now occupied by the Royal Observatory . The Thames-side palace was renamed the Palace of Placentia or Pleasaunce by Henry VI 's consort Margaret of Anjou after Humphrey's death. The palace
5520-515: The manor of Grenviz in the hundred of Grenviz as held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux ; his lands were seized by the crown in 1082. The name of the hundred was changed to Blackheath when the site of the hundred court was moved there in the 12th century. A royal palace, or hunting lodge, has existed here since before 1300, when Edward I is known to have made offerings at the chapel of the Virgin Mary. Subsequent monarchs were regular visitors, with Henry IV making his will here, and Henry V granting
5612-456: The modern Prime Meridian . The palace was the principal residence of Henry VII whose sons Henry (later Henry VIII ) and Edmund Tudor were born here, and baptised in St Alphege's. Henry favoured Greenwich over nearby Eltham Palace , the former principal royal palace in south London, but which was not on the River Thames and so was less accessible. Henry extended Greenwich Palace and it became his principal London seat until Whitehall Palace
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#17327723224145704-402: The name "East Greenwich" include a township in Gloucester County, New Jersey , a hamlet in Washington County, New York , and a town in Kent County, Rhode Island . Greenwich, Connecticut was also named after Greenwich. Tumuli to the south-west of Flamsteed House, in Greenwich Park , are thought to be early Bronze Age barrows re-used by the Saxons in the 6th century as burial grounds. To
5796-401: The name of the manor of East Greenwich for describing the tenure (from the Latin verb teneo , hold) as that of free socage . New England charters provided that the grantees should hold their lands "as of his Majesty's manor of East Greenwich". This was in relation to the principle of land tenure under English law, that the ruling monarch (king or queen) was paramount lord of all the soil in
5888-440: The new mouth of the river, to protect the jetty channel from littoral drift, and cause the discharge of the river to maintain it out to deep water. The channel, also, beyond the outlet of the river Nervion into the Bay of Biscay has been regulated by jetties; and by extending the south-west jetty out for nearly 0.5 miles (0.80 km) with a curve concave towards the channel the outlet has not only been protected to some extent from
5980-425: The older jetties, in such long-established jetty ports as Calais , Dunkirk and Ostend , was composed of clay or rubble stone, covered on the top by fascine-work or pitching, but the deepening of the jetty channel by dredging and the need that arose for its enlargement led to the reconstruction of the jetties at these ports. The nes jetties at Dunkirk were founded in the sandy beach, by the aid of compressed air, at
6072-454: The opening of the Blackwall Tunnel in 1897, and had no passenger railway or London Underground service until the opening of North Greenwich tube station on the Jubilee line in 1999. Closure of the gasworks, power station and other industries in the late 20th century left much of the Greenwich Peninsula a barren wasteland, much of it heavily contaminated. In the early years of the 21st century, surviving industries were mainly concentrated on
6164-411: The outlet of the river at a suitable site, by carrying a jetty on each side of this outlet across the beach, thereby concentrating its discharge in a definite channel and protecting the mouth from being blocked up by littoral drift. This system was long ago applied to the shifting outlet of the river Yare to the south of Yarmouth , and has also been successfully employed for fixing the wandering mouth of
6256-418: The peninsula in 2010, neighbours The O 2 . The peninsula was drained by Dutch engineers in the 16th century, allowing it to be used as pasture land. In the 17th century, Blackwall Point (the northern tip of the peninsula, opposite Blackwall ) gained notoriety as a location where pirates ' corpses were hung in cages as a deterrent to other would-be pirates. In the 1690s the Board of Ordnance established
6348-414: The plant began to manufacture gas from oil in the 1960s. Its peak production of 400 million ft per day (11.3 million m) in the mid 1960s is believed to have been the largest of any single site in the world. The discovery of natural gas reserves in the North Sea soon rendered the complex obsolete. On the eastern shore was Blackwall Point Power Station ; the original station from the 1890s was replaced in
6440-412: The reduction of its scouring force, is no longer able at a moderate distance from the shore effectually to resist the action of tending to form a continuous beach in front of the outlet. Hence a bar is produced that diminishes the available depth in the approach channel. By carrying out a solid jetty over the bar, however on each side of the outlet, the tidal currents are concentrated in the channel across
6532-421: The river. In addition to the construction of the Millennium Dome, new roads were built on the eastern side of the peninsula in anticipation of new developments. New riverside walkways, cycle paths and public artworks were also created, including Antony Gormley 's Quantum Cloud and Richard Wilson 's A Slice of Reality . (In 2015, these were among five North Greenwich artworks incorporated into The Line ,
6624-520: The same group in 2003. The Roman road from London to Dover , Watling Street crossed the high ground to the south of Greenwich, through Blackheath. This followed the line of an earlier Celtic route from Canterbury to St Albans . As late as Henry V , Greenwich was only a fishing town, with a safe anchorage in the river. During the reign of Ethelred the Unready , the Danish fleet anchored in
6716-701: The same year, he became a trustee of the National Maritime Museum. Prince Philip was a trustee for 52 years until 2000, when he became its first patron . The Duke of Edinburgh was also a patron of the Cutty Sark (which was opened by the Queen in 1957) from 1952. During the Silver Jubilee of 1977, the Queen embarked at Greenwich for the Jubilee River Pageant. In 1987, she was aboard the P&;O ship Pacific Princess when it moored alongside
6808-683: The site is intended for residential use. Approximately 400 m further south, at the western end of River Way, is the Pilot Inn public house , which, along with the adjacent housing terrace, is among the oldest remaining buildings on the peninsula. Central Park runs through the central spine of the peninsula, with the Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park further south providing a haven for many different species of bird, plants and insects. A combined heat and power (CHP) energy centre has been constructed adjacent to and east of
6900-622: The site, including over 10,000 further homes, some facing the river or overlooking the park, 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m) of office space and the conversion of the Millennium Dome into an indoor arena, renamed The O 2 , which was used as a London 2012 venue. South of The O 2 , new public realms were created, Peninsula Square and Green Place . To the east of Peninsula Square is Ravensbourne University London , which relocated to Greenwich Peninsula in September 2010. In 2011,
6992-404: The slope, at the ends of which vessels can lie in deep water or more solid structures are erected over the slope for supporting coal-tips. Pilework jetties are also constructed in the water outside the entrances to docks on each side, so as to form an enlarging trumpet-shaped channel between the entrance, lock or tidal basin and the approach channel, in order to guide vessels in entering or leaving
7084-465: The south, the land rises steeply, 100 feet (30 m) through Greenwich Park to the town of Blackheath . The higher areas consist of a sedimentary layer of gravelly soils, known as the Blackheath Beds , that spread through much of the south-east over a chalk outcrop—with sands, loam and seams of clay at the lower levels by the river. Greenwich is bordered by Deptford Creek and Deptford to
7176-480: The town centre. The maritime connections of Greenwich were celebrated in the 20th century, with the siting of the Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV next to the river front, and the National Maritime Museum in the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School in 1934. Historically an ancient parish in the Blackheath Hundred of Kent, the town formed part of the growing conurbation of London in
7268-635: The university's campus won an award in the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Awards for London. From a shortlist of 55 schemes, the Ravensbourne building won the education and community category. To the south east of the square, the six storey 14 Pier Walk building houses offices for Transport for London . Adjacent to this is the 11 storey 6 Mitre Passage office building. New restaurants and shops have opened facing onto Peninsula Square and Green Place. Transport for London constructed
7360-564: The west; the residential area of Westcombe Park to the east; the River Thames to the north; and the A2 and Blackheath to the south. The Greenwich Peninsula , also known as North Greenwich, forms the main projection of the town (to the northeast of the town centre). This data was collected between 2005 and 2015 at the weather station in Greenwich: Historically, the record high is 100 °F (38 °C) on 9 August 1911. This
7452-579: The western side of the peninsula, between the river and the A102 Blackwall Tunnel southern approach road . They included Alcatel, a Tunnel Refiners/Amylum glucose plant (from 1976 until about 2008 part of Tate & Lyle ) which closed in 2009, and two large marine aggregate terminals on the Delta Metals and Victoria Deep Water Terminal sites. The second of the two gas holders was demolished in 2020. Public and private investment since
7544-521: The work given the title 'The Optic Cloak'. In 2016, construction started on new buildings for St Mary Magdalene Church of England School (part of the Koinonia Federation; the federation then operated at four Greenwich sites, two of which moved to the new building on completion in September 2018). The school is located at the corner of Millennium Way and John Harrison Way, and has sports facilities available for community use. The peninsula
7636-585: Was accompanied by his mother Queen Mary, his wife Queen Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother ) and the Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II .) Princess Elizabeth and her consort Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (who was ennobled Baron Greenwich on marriage in 1947) made their first public and official visit to Greenwich in 1948 to receive the Freedom of the Borough for Philip. In
7728-509: Was also displayed Gipsy Moth IV , the 54 feet (16.5 m) yacht sailed by Sir Francis Chichester in his single-handed, 226-day circumnavigation of the globe during 1966–67. In 2004, Gipsy Moth IV was removed from Greenwich, and after restoration work completed a second circumnavigation in May 2007. On the riverside in front of the north-west corner of the hospital is an obelisk erected in memory of Arctic explorer Joseph René Bellot . Near
7820-619: Was at one time based on the time observations made at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, before being superseded by the closely related Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). While there is no longer a working astronomical observatory at Greenwich, a ball still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1 p.m., and there is a museum of astronomical and navigational tools, particularly John Harrison 's marine chronometers . Jetty One form of jetties, wing dams , are extended out, opposite one another, from each bank of
7912-414: Was built in the 1530s. Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves at Greenwich, and both Mary (18 February 1516) and Elizabeth (7 September 1533) were born at Greenwich. His son Edward VI also died there at age 15. The palace of Placentia, in turn, became Elizabeth's favourite summer residence. Both she and her sister Mary used the palace extensively, and Elizabeth's Council planned
8004-465: Was completed and further enlarged by Edward IV , and in 1466 it was granted to his queen, Elizabeth . Edward IV had previously been given permission by the Pope to establish a Franciscan friary of Observant Friars in Greenwich, this was done in 1485, two years after his death; the first Observant House in England, it was located on land adjacent to the palace. After rejecting papal authority in 1534,
8096-550: Was demolished in 1937 to make way for a new Town Hall , now a listed building under new ownership and renamed Meridian House. Greenwich Station is at the northern apex of the Ashburnham Triangle, a residential estate developed by the Ashburnham family, mainly between 1830 and 1870, on land previously developed as market gardens. It is now a designated conservation area. The present Greenwich Theatre, further to
8188-615: Was granted in recognition of the borough's historic links with the Royal Family , the location of the Prime Meridian and its being a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Greenwich is covered by the Greenwich West and Peninsula wards of the London Borough of Greenwich, which was formed in 1965 by merging the former Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich with that part of the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich which lay south of
8280-518: Was the birthplace of many Tudors , including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I . The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was demolished to eventually be replaced by the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors , designed by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor . These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained a military education establishment until 1998 when they passed into
8372-408: Was the record for London until 2003, though it was disregarded due to non-standard instruments. Greenwich has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) with warm summers and cool winters. The Cutty Sark (a clipper ship) has been preserved in a dry dock by the river. A major fire in May 2007 destroyed a part of the ship, although much had already been removed for restoration. Nearby for many years
8464-521: Was what is known as a -wich town or emporium , from the Latin ' vicus '. The settlement later became known as East Greenwich to distinguish it from West Greenwich or Deptford Strond , the part of Deptford adjacent to the River Thames , but the use of East Greenwich to mean the whole of the town of Greenwich died out in the 19th century. However, Greenwich was divided into the registration subdistricts of Greenwich East and Greenwich West from
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