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The original site of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO), which was built as a workplace for the Astronomer Royal, was on a hill in Greenwich Park in Greenwich, London, overlooking the River Thames. The Prime Meridian, to which longitude refers, went through the observatory. It is marked by a brass strip in the courtyard and, since December 16, 1999, a powerful green laser shining north across the London and Essex night sky.The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II. Flamsteed House (1675-76), the original part of the Observatory, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was the first purpose-built scientific research facility in Britain.
The last time that all departments of the RGO were at Greenwich was before World War II. Many departments were evacuated along with the rest of London to the countryside ( Abinger, BradfordThis article discusses the city Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford gives its name to the metropolitan borough named the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, discussed in a separate article, which also takes in many towns and villages in the, and BathFor alternate meanings see Bath (disambiguation Palladian Pulteney Bridge and the weir at Bath Bath is a city in south-west England, most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. The city was first recorded as a Roman spa, though verbal tradition su) in 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26. After the War, in 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na, the decision was made to move to HerstmonceuxHerstmonceux is a village in the county of East Sussex in the South East of England. The village is most famous for its castle built in 1441 and still in good condition today. The castle is currently owned by the Queen's University Canada. In the past it Castle and 320 adjacent acres (70 km south-southeast of Greenwich near HailshamHailsham is a town in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. It has a population of over 18,000. The town originally grew as an agricultural centre but is now mostly a commuter town. Towns in East Sussex. in East SussexEast Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex and, to the south, by the English Channel. The county town of East Sussex is Lewes. The county of Sussex was divided into an eastern and western) due to light pollutionLight pollution (also known as photopollution luminous pollution or just excessive or obtrusive lighting) is excess light, created by human activities. Among other effects, this can obscure the night sky enough to hide most stars and other celestial objec in London. Although the Astronomer Royal moved to the castle in 1948, the scientific staff could not move until the completion of new observatory buildings in 1957. Shortly thereafter, other far flung departments were reintegrated at Herstmonceux. The Isaac Newton Telescope was built there in 1967, but was moved to La Palma in Spain's Canary Islands in 1979. In 1990 the RGO moved again, to Cambridge. Following a decision of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council , it closed in 1998. Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office was transferred to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory after the closure. Other work went to the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh. The castle now houses the International Study Centre of Queen's University, Kingston, Canada and the Observatory Science Centre .
Greenwich Mean Time was at one time based on the time observations made at Greenwich, before being superseded by Coordinated Universal Time. While Greenwich no longer hosts a working astronomical observatory, it remains a centre of excellence for modern astronomy.
A time ball still drops daily to mark the exact moment of 1pm (13:00) - this was installed by Astronomer Royal John Pond in 1833. There is a good museum of astronomical and navigational tools, notably including John Harrison's prize-winning longitude chronometer, H4.
