Greenwich Park

More Park Pages

Click on the pictures for larger images

Version B03

Greenwich Royal Park was first enclosed by Duke Humphrey, brother of King Henry V, in the 1430s.   Humphrey built the first palace, Bella Court, on the site by the river.

 

The Tudors developed the palace site into the Palace of Placentia, birthplace of both Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I.

 

The oldest existing building in the park is the Queen’s House designed for Charles I by Inigo Jones around 1607 and completed in the 1630s.

 

The formal landscape seen today was laid out by Andre Le Notre for Charles II in the 1660s.  Legend has it that Le Notre didn’t know the park contained the steep slope and designed the layout plan thinking it was flat!

 

In and close around the park are the Royal Observatory, the Queen’s House and Royal Naval Hospital School (now the National Maritime Museum), the Royal Naval Hospital (now the University of Greenwich), the Ranger’s House, Vanburgh Castle, the Wolfe statue, some pathetic Roman remains, and Queen Elizabeth’s oak.