Around the site

Scroll over the icons on the interactive map to discover more about what to see and experience at the ORNC.

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Read more about our main attractions, features, activities, facilities and spaces around our site.

Gates

Step inside the railings of the Old Royal Naval College through one of the eight impressive gates dating from 1849 to 1859.

West Gate

The West Gate is the closest gate to Greenwich town centre and is an instant landmark when you exit the Docklands Light Railway and head along College Approach.

The most striking features are two large globes which adorn each of the gate piers. These were placed here to commemorate Admiral George Anson and his epic four year journey (1740 – 1744) to circumnavigate the world.

Water Gate

If you approach the ORNC from the Thames river path, you will probably enter through the Water Gate. This gate, which frames the twin domes of the ORNC, was erected to replace a rather more modest 18th century design. It completed the landscaping scheme of the 1850s.

The gates give a clue about the original inhabitants of the site, when it was the Royal Hospital for Seamen. The coat of arms of the Royal Hospital for Seamen is set in the middle, its crest made up of four anchors with a central crown and a rope around the edge. Above the gate is gilded naval crown and there are tridents on the piers.