Old Royal Naval College – Painted Hall & Chapel

Craig’s review… My favourite days at the Old Royal Naval College have all involved me walking around in the sun (because it’s always sunny here) and hearing some classical music drifting out of the open windows. If ever a place was made for classical music then it’s here. You feel like there should be some Regency dandies walking around the gravel paths and women with big white wigs and parasols. This is Christopher Wren country. He certainly earned his wages when he designed this place.

Maritime Greenwich

Here’s a tip: the first time you come here make sure you’re sitting on a boat from Big Ben to Greenwich, because you need to see the two wings from the river to get the full effect. When the boat floats into the pier you will have the Cutty Sark on your right and the college on your left. Resist the temptation to walk inland and have a stroll along the waterfront instead. When you round the corner of the first wing the whole vista will open up and there’s your first photograph, right there.

Back in the old days this was where we trained all our navy sailors, admirals and captains, and you can just picture them strolling around the grounds in their smart white uniforms (I’m thinking of Richard Gere in An Officer And A Gentlemen). But all you see nowadays are tourists, teachers and music students from the Trinity College of Music with their big bassoons, trumpets and drums (that’s where all of the classical music comes from).

The Painted Hall & Chapel

There are only two real rooms that the public can look inside, and you’ll find them in the middle of each wing – the famous Painted Hall and Chapel.

The Painted Hall dates back to a time when the college was still a home for injured seamen. The entire room is one giant painting and it took Sir James Thornhill nineteen years to complete, which goes some way towards describing how fantastic it is – it’s Britain’s equivalent of the Sistine Chapel.

I feel a bit daft describing it on paper because it’s one of those rooms that you really have to see to believe. Sometimes it’s better just to say nothing and let you be gobsmacked when you walk through the door.

It’s not the painting that impresses in the chapel but all the carved plasterwork on the ceiling. It looks like one of those Wedgwood china teapots.

Worth a visit? ★★★Value for money? freeGood for kids? ☆☆☆Easy to get to? ★★★

I also recommend… If you enjoy this then try Cutty Sark (you can walk there in less than 1 min); National Maritime Museum (you can walk it in 4 mins) and Royal Observatory (you can walk it 10 mins)

The author Craig Cross owns city-guide.london and has spent the last decade reviewing the capital’s landmarks, attractions and hotels. His guidebook London Squire is available from Amazon