Greenwich

Greenwich is a town in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in the traditional county of Kent and ceremonial county of Greater London centred 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east south-east of Charing Cross. The town lends its name to the Royal Borough of Greenwich.The town gives its name to one of the five boroughs of the London Docklands, and is connected to areas with docks of London historically by river and today to Canary Wharf and other districts by the Docklands Light Railway.Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many Tudors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.