What’s new for groups in 2007? Themed guided tours plus an Easter Concert & Supper
Laura Wilkinson
7 February 2007
The Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College continues to provide a professional and dedicated service to all groups on a visit to Greenwich. For 2007 the Foundation is offering a number of new packages including themed tours and the latest in the series of Concert & Suppers: Messiah for Easter.
Messiah Concert & Supper
Wednesday 4 April, 7.30pm
During Holy Week 2007 the Chapel of St Peter & St Paul will be the setting for both traditional and choral services and on Wednesday 4 April the Greenwich Foundation presents the Messiah Concert & Supper. This is the latest in a series of Concert & Suppers that have proved very popular with group travel organisers in the past.
Handel’s Messiah (Pt 2 and 3) will be performed by the Chapel Choir and the Greenwich Baroque Orchestra in James ‘Athenian’ Stuart’s neoclassical Chapel. Following the concert the audience will move across to the Painted Hall where they will be treated to a two-course dinner. The ticket price of £40 includes the concert, dinner and a glass of wine. To guarantee the evening is as enjoyable and effortless as possible for the group travel organiser a member of staff will be assigned to assist the group.
Themed Tours
Which of Henry VIII’s daughters was born at Greenwich? Who is the latest Hollywood movie star to be filmed in the Chapel? Why does Pocahontas appear in the Painted Hall? To find out the answer to these questions and more, groups are invited to join the Yeomen guides on one of the specially devised themed tours for 2007. Three of these tours are detailed below. If however a more bespoke package is needed the Visitor Services Manager can tailor a visit to any group’s needs.
Kings & Queens
The present buildings of the Old Royal Naval College stand on what was once the Tudor Greenwich Palace. Since the 15th century, despite a number of changes of use, the site’s rich connection to Britain’s royalty has continued. Greenwich Palace was Henry VIII’s favourite palace and the birthplace of Elizabeth I; the Greenwich Hospital of Seamen designed by Wren was commissioned by William and Mary and later as the Naval College, Prince Philip and Prince Andrew both trained here. This is the tour for royal enthusiasts.
Movie Magic
“In the name of the father, the son and the holy goat. Eh... ghost..” This memorable line from Father Gerald, Rowan Atkinson, in Four Weddings and a Funeral was filmed in the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College. Other blockbuster films that have used the Painted Hall, Chapel and grounds as a backdrop include The Mummy, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and on television the College was central in the latest Marks & Spencers advertising campaign and in the BBC’s Spooks. Following extensive research into the history of filming at the Old Royal Naval College, a Yeoman will guide groups around the most popular filming spots and may even have a few sensational stories to tell!
America’s connections with Greenwich
To mark the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the first English settlement in Virginia USA, the Old Royal Naval College is offering a tour which looks at the site’s long connections with North America. From the original charters for the first settlements which were granted from the ‘manor of East Greenwich’ to the appearance of Pocahontas in the Painted Hall and the paintings of Benjamin West, the first American artist to achieve international reputation: the historical connections to the USA on this site are fascinating.
The themed tours all include the highlights of the existing guided tour with exclusive access to the Nelson Room, an exhibition created in 2005; the Victorian Skittle Alley where the Greenwich Pensioners spent their days some 140 years ago and the Jacobean Undercroft, the last remaining visible section of Greenwich Palace. Admission to the Old Royal Naval College is free with a small charge applicable for all group tours set at £4 per adult. Group leaders and bus drivers are offered the tour free of charge.
- ends -
Issued 22 January 2007
For additional details and images contact Laura Wilkinson, Marketing & Events Manager, Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College: 020 8269 4763 / 07890 314499
Notes to Editors
1. Visitor Information: Admission free
Opening times: grounds open daily 8am-6pm
Mon-Sat: Painted Hall, Chapel & Visitor Centre 10am-5pm
Sun: Painted Hall & Visitor Centre 10am-5pm; Chapel 12.30-5pm
For more information visit www.oldroyalnavalcollege.org.
For a group travel enquiry please call 020 8269 4747 or email info@greenwichfoundation.org.uk
The Old Royal Naval College, alongside Leith’s, is able to offer catering facilities for groups of all sizes. There is a licensed café in the Visitor Centre and a restaurant, set in the Undercroft beneath the Painted Hall, is available for morning refreshments, lunch, English afternoon teas or cocktail receptions and dinners.
To book tickets for the Messiah Concert & Supper call 020 8269 4799
2. 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.
3. Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site
Maritime Greenwich was inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) by UNESCO in 1997. Greenwich is recognised for its cultural heritage; the grandeur and sheer beauty of its buildings, the magnificent vistas and views across London, its royal history, its naval and sea-faring history and its scientific accomplishments.
For more information visit www.greenwichwhs.org.uk
4. Jamestown 2007
2007 marks the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in North America, when 105 Englishmen on board the Susan Constant, the Discovery and the Godspeed landed on the banks of the James River, Virginia. This anniversary is being marked in Virginia with a year-long series of events and in the UK where the anniversary celebrations are being led by East England, alongside VisitBritain. For further information visit www.beginyouradventure.co.uk.
