The Pictorial History of Maritime Greenwich [antikvár]

THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF MARITIME GREENWICH BY FRANK G. G. CARR, C.B., C.B.E., F.S.A. Director National Maritime Museum 1947 - 1966 WHEN the new power station at Blackwall was opened a few years ago, a small boy stood by his father in the crowd, watching the ceremony. Idly direct-ing his gaze upward, the lad saw, on the wall above, a vertical line flanked by two words. "Whaťs thatj Dad?" "That ?" came the answer, "thaťs the builder's name. Very well-known firm, Meridian of Greenwich; fa-mous all over the world." In the beginning, however, the fame of Greenwich was not founded on the fact that ali nations, east and west, chose its Mean Time as their universal standard. There was a much more fundamental reason. Built along the southern margin of that river of liquid history, the Thames, a bare five miles below the moated Tower mellow with age, and the city that it guards, the ancient borough of Greenwich stands like a janitor's lodge at the very threshold of London. For more than a thou-sand years, whether in a ship coming up from seaward, or travelling over Blackheath by the old Dover Road built by the Romans, he who would reach the metropolis by the shortest route from the continent must pass Greenwich on his way. History books can be duli, but history never; and Greenwich will always be fascinating for those who, in the mind's eye, can gaze back into the past and see again the scenes that were enacted long ago. One can imagine the Danés arriving in their longships and leaving them in the river at Greenwich while they set off to raid Canterbury in 1012, return-ing with Archbishop Alfege to murder him where his church now stands. They were back again four years later, in 1016, for their attack on London. In the tenth Century, Old Court and Combe were two separate Man-ors, given by Princess Elstrudis, King Alfred's daughter, to the Abbey of St. Peter at Ghent. In Domesday Book they appear as one, united by the name of "East Greenwich." In 1414, however, under Henry V, this reverted to the Crown as the "Manor of Greenwich." How many visitors from the United States know today that it was of this manor that the early settlers in Virginia, where Jamestown was founded in 1607, held their title from James I ? The first king to have a house at Greenwich was probably Henry IV, who about 1400 seems to have built one for himself near where Morden College now stands. In 1415 Henry V returned in triumph from his victory at Agincourt, and it was at Blackheath that he was met by the mayor and aldermen of London. After his death, his brother, the "good" Duke Humphrey of Gloucester became regent. Realising the strategie importance of Greenwich and Blackheath for the defence of London, in 1427 he built a watch tower to guard the approaches where Flamsteed House now stands. He also built himself a country house by the river where the Royal Naval College is now, calling it "Bella Court," mak-ing it a centre of learning for scholars and artists under his patronage, and forming a library which he bequeathed to Oxford, there to be known as "Duke Humphrey's Library." In 1433, Henry VI, his nephew, allowed him to enclose 200 acres for a park, making this the first of the enclosures known as the "Royal Parks." The area was much as it is now, and the first keeper was ap-pointed in i486. An order survives from 1515 for "enstocking" it with deer, and 100 were afterwards brought from Rayleigh Park, Essex. Four - and - a - half centuries later, Greenwich Park still has its deer. Between 1609 and 1625, James I had it enclosed with a brick wall 12 feet high and two miles long, costing over L2,000, a large sum at that time, but money well spent, for the wall survives today. The present general arrangement of the grounds remains recognisably much as it was laid out in the reign of Charles II, probably by André le Nôtre, who planned Versailles. In 1447, Duke Humphrey feil from power, and Margaret of Anjou, the termagant wife of Henry VI, seized Bella Court, adding vastly to its size and turning it into the "Palace of Pleasaunce," or "Placen-tia." Here Henry Vili, Mary I and Elizabeth I were born, and with the court so frequently in residence at Placentia Greenwich soon became one of the most important places in England. Henry Vili loved it. In the park he could hunt and go hawking, and it was handy for him to inspect the progress of his ships in the naval dockyards he established at Dept-ford and Woolwich, where the HENRI GRACE A DIEU was built. He built armouries on the terrace and imported armourers from Germany, and the finest armour made in England bears the name "Greenwich." Adjoining the armouries was a tilt-yard where splendid tournaments were staged. It was at Greenwich that in the reign of his daughter, Elizabeth, the orders for resisting the Spanish Armada were signed. James I preferred his new palace at Whitehall, but for his wife, Anne of Denmark, Inigo Jones was com-missioned in 1616 to build the Queen's House. Her death interrup-ted the work, and it was not finished until 1635. Under the Commonwealth, the Tudor Palace of Placentia feÜ into such disrepair that Charles II decided to demolish it and build on the old site. John Webb was the architect, and the "King's House," now the King Charles Block, was the first building to be compieteci. Thereafter money ran out, and it was not until the Royal Hospital at Greenwich was founded by a charter of William and Mary in 1694 that building was resumed, and a new chapter in the history of Greenwich was opened. The story is unfolded in the account of the Royal Naval College on page 16. Page 3