Summer Family Fun
Isabel Keim
25 June 2009
The Old Royal Naval College has a full programme of events and workshops suitable for families throughout July and August. From open-air Shakespeare on the College lawns to storytelling and craft-making workshops in the Painted Hall the Old Royal Naval College has events for all children.
Children’s Art Day 2009: Wacky Wigs
Sun 12 July
13.00 – 16.00
The Old Royal Naval College is joining in with the national visual arts programme Children’s Art Day 2009 with an afternoon of craft-making workshops in the Painted Hall. Children will explore the fabulous wigs pictured on the walls and ceiling of the Hall and create their own wacky wig to take home and wear.
The workshops are drop-in activities in the Painted Hall. Suitable for ages 5+.
£1 per child, accompanying adults free.
Treasures of the Thames
Sat 25 July
10.30 – 13.30
Discover archaeological objects on the foreshore of the river Thames with your family as part of the Festival of British Archaeology 2009. Thames Explorer Trust in conjunction with the Old Royal Naval College will explain how to find, sort and identify your discovered archaeological objects.
Participants are advised to wear suitable footwear.
£6 (per adult), £4 (per child), plus £1.50 administration fee
Booking essential. Box Office: 020 8269 4799
Rainbow Shakspeare’s Henry V and Love’s Labours Lost
Henry V: Wed 29 July – Sun 2 August, Love’s Labours Lost: Wed 5 – Sun 9 Aug
Evenings 19.30, Sat and Sun Matinees 14.30
What could be more magical or essentially English, than watching an exciting and funny Shakespeare play in the open-air, whilst relaxing with a picnic or just a drink? This summer Rainbow Shakespeare is presenting two contrasting and brilliant plays, Henry V and Love’s Labours Lost, for all the family on the Pepys Lawn at the Old Royal Naval College. In their 11th open-air season, Rainbow have built up an enviable reputation, with their ensemble company of lively professional actors, sharing and drawing the audience into the enchantment of live theatre.
£15 (adults), £7 (under 16’s), £40 (family ticket – 2 adults and 2 under 16’s)
Box Office: 020 8858 7755 or on the day/night at the Cutty Sark Gate
Fun Family Fridays
Fri 7, 14, 21, 28 August
13.00 – 15.45
Throughout the summer holidays the Old Royal Naval College is offering a programme of exciting craft workshops for families in the breathtaking surroundings of the Painted Hall.
£1 per child, accompanying adult free. Suitable for ages 3+.
Workshops include:
Animaltastic
13.00 – 15.00
Fri 7 August
Be inspired by the fabulous animals in the Painted Hall and make your own figure puppet.
Treasure Chests
13.00 – 15.00
*Fri 14 August *
Explore a special treasure chest in the Painted Hall and make your own to take home with you. Create a treasure map and coins to go in it.
Flower Power
Fri 21 August
13.00 – 15.00
Look at the pictures of flowers and fruit in the Painted Hall and make your own natural creations using a range of craft materials.
Impossible Creatures
Fri 28 August
13.00 – 15.00
See if you can spot the dragons, mermen and snake-headed gorgons in the Painted Hall, then create you own impossible creature to take home.
The workshops are followed by a free Tactile Tales storytelling session from 15.00 to 15.45 in the Painted Hall, using a unique and intricately handcrafted tactile rug. The rug depicts characters from Sir James Thornhill’s 18th century masterpiece, the Painted Hall ceiling. Kings, queens, monsters and sailors are brought to life as children listen to exciting tales, sing songs, take part in role play and explore the different textures of the tactile rug.
Visitor Information
Admission free, individual events priced as above
Opening times: grounds open daily 08:00 – 18:00, Mon-Sat: Painted Hall and Chapel 10:00 – 17:00, Sun: Painted Hall 10:00 – 17:00; Chapel 12:30 – 17:00
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Notes to editors
1. Brief Site History
The Old Royal Naval College began life as Greenwich Hospital, which was established in 1694 by Royal Charter for the relief and support of seamen and their dependants and for the improvement of navigation. Sir Christopher Wren planned the site, described as "one of the most sublime sights English architecture affords", and, during the first half of the eighteenth century, various illustrious architects, such as Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, completed Wren's grand design.
In June 1705, the first Pensioners arrived and, by 1814, a total of 2,710 lived there. They lived on a diet of bread, beer and boiled meat and smoked their clay pipes or ‘chalks’ in the Chalk Walk, now the Skittle Alley. The Pensioners were given pocket money of 1s a week, which they supplemented by acting as caddies at Blackheath Golf Club and guides for visitors to Greenwich.
In 1869 the Hospital was closed, and in 1873 the complex of buildings became the Royal Naval College, where officers from all over the world came to train in the naval sciences. The Navy moved out in 1998 to merge with the RAF and Army at a new Joint Services Staff College in Shrivenham.
With the departure of the Royal Navy from Greenwich, responsibility for the Old Royal Naval College passed to the Greenwich Foundation. The Foundation is a registered charity established to look after, and interpret, the buildings and their grounds for the benefit of the nation.
2. Future Projects
A £5.8 million new interpretation and learning centre telling the continuing story of the Old Royal Naval College and Maritime Greenwich will open early in 2010. The centre will include a permanent exhibition, a learning suite and a temporary exhibition gallery. The shop, café and Tourist Information Centre will be completely refurbished, and a new café, bar and restaurant featuring a micro brewery will open in the adjacent Old Brewery building of the former Royal Hospital.
For more information and the history of the site from the 15th century to present day visit www.oldroyalnavalcollege.org.uk
Issued 18 June 2009
