It possesses the largest refracting telescope in the United Kingdom. Of course, Greenwich still serves an important role as a stellar observatory. Prior to the existence of the Observatory, Greenwich Park was home to Greenwich Castle, which served as one of King Henry VIII’s many hunting lodges. Greenwich ParkĪt one time, the Observatory occupied 2.64 acres of Greenwich Park, but as much of the Royal Observatory was moved to Herstmonceux in East Sussex, allowing the freed up space to go back to use for the park. There are also many additional slave clocks and important historical timepieces there. The Shepherd Gate Clock is one of the earliest examples of an electric synchronised (or slave) clock. Fedchenko pendulum clock, which is said to be one of the most accurate of its kind made into multiple copies. One is a mid-20 th Century Russian-made F.M.
Speaking of time, the Observatory has several interesting clocks. In the 19 th Century, mariners the world over came to rely on Greenwich on their own chronometers and helped GMT to become a universal standard for decades. Ships synchronised their chronometers to Greenwich (different from the ship’s clock) and the time zones of Greenwich Mean Time (now known as Universal Time) were set up along the lines of longitude.
Standardised time was essential for navigation so that mariners were able to measure their distance from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich. Keeping Timeīefore the Observatory, there was no standardised method of measuring time, which could be very, very confusing. The original cost of the Royal Observatory in 1675 was £520, which was actually £20 over-budget. It was this position that led him to be on King Charles’s commission to establish the Observatory and choose the site in Greenwich. While Sir Christopher Wren was known primarily for all the structures he designed in London and across the United Kingdom, some might not know that he was once a professor of astronomy at Oxford University.
GREENWICH ROYAL OBSERVATORY FULL
Still important to navigation and timekeeping, the Observatory is full of many interesting facts thanks to its numerous contributions. Since the Longitude Act of 1714, the Observatory has also served as the home of the Prime Meridian, a navigational tool of utmost importance to sailors. It owes its existence to a Who’s Who of 17 th Century Britain, as it was commissioned by King Charles II and its location site chosen by Sir Christopher Wren in 1675. A pioneering place of British astronomy, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich has been observing the stars for hundreds of years.