GREENWICH, a south-eastern metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded north by the river Thames, east by Woolwich, south by Lewisham and west by Deptford. Pop. 100,879. It is first noticed in the reign of Ethelred, when it was a station of the Danish fleet (1 o I I–I 014) . It has a river frontage of 41 m., the Thames making two deep bends, enclosing the Isle of Dogs on the north and a similar peninsula on the Greenwich side. Greenwich is connected with Poplar on the north shore by the Greenwich tunnel to the Isle of Dogs (Cubitt Town), and by the Blackwall Tunnel to a point between the East and West India Docks. The main thoroughfare from west to east is Woolwich Road, representing the old high road through Kent, the Roman Watling Street.
The most noteworthy buildings are the hospital and the ob servatory. Greenwich hospital, as it is still called, became in 1873 a Royal Naval college. On the site once stood Greenwich House, a royal residence as early as 1300, granted by Henry V. to Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter, from whom it passed to Hum phrey, duke of Gloucester, who improved it and named it Pla centia. It did not revert to the crown till his death in 1447. It was the birthplace of Henry VIII., Queen Mary and Queen Eliza beth, and here Edward VI. died. The building was enlarged by Edward IV., by Henry VIII., who made it one of his chief residences, by James I. and by Charles I., who erected the "Queen's House" for Henrietta Maria. The tenure of land from the crown "as of the manor of East Greenwich" became at this time a recognized formula, and occurs in a succession of Ameri can colonial charters from those of Virginia in 1606, 1609 and 1612 to that of New Jersey in 1674. Along with other royal palaces Greenwich was at the Revolution appropriated by the Protector, but it reverted to the crown on the restoration of Charles II., by whom it was pulled down ; and the west wing of the present hospital was erected and designed by Inigo Jones. Parts were built by Queen Anne and King William and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In its unfinished state it was assigned by the patent of William and Mary to certain of the great offi cers of state, and it was opened as a hospital for seamen in 1705. The walls and ceilings of the painted hall were painted by Sir James Thornhill with various emblematic devices, and it is hung with portraits of the most distinguished admirals and paintings of the chief naval battles of England. In the Queen Anne range is the Royal Naval museum. In the upper quadrangle is a bust of Nelson by Chantrey, and there are various other memorials and relics. Formerly 2,700 retired seamen were boarded, and 6,000 out pensioners received stipends out of its funds; but by the act of 1865 the Admiralty granted liberal pensions in lieu of board to those willing to quit the hospital; by the act of 1869 they were compelled to leave and it was devoted to the accommo dation of the students of the Royal Naval college, the Infirmary being granted to the Seamen's Hospital Society.
To the south of the hospital is Greenwich park (185 ac.). It was enclosed by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and laid out by Charles II., and contains a fine avenue of Spanish chestnuts planted in his time. In it is the Royal Observatory, built in for the advancement of navigation and nautical astronomy. From it the exact time is conveyed each day at one o'clock by electric signal to the chief towns throughout the country ; British, and the majority of foreign geographers reckon longitude from its meridian. A standard clock and measures are seen at the en trance. The new magnetic pavilion lying 40o yd. to the east was completed in 1899, to avoid the disturbance of instruments which would be occasioned by the iron used in the principal building. South of the park lies the open common of Blackheath, mainly within the borough of Lewisham, and in the east the borough includes the greater part of Woolwich common. The parish church of Greenwich, in Church Street, is dedicated to St. Alphege, archbishop, who was martyred here by the Danes in 1012.
At Greenwich an annual banquet of cabinet ministers, the whitebait dinner, formerly took place. This ceremony arose out of a dinner held annually at Dagenham, by the commissioners for engineering works carried out there in 1705-2o—to save the low lands from flooding. To one of these dinners Pitt was invited, and was subsequently accompanied by some of his colleagues. Early in the i9th century the venue of the dinner, now a minis terial function, was transferred to Greenwich, and celebrated at the "Ship," an hotel of ancient foundation. The banquet con tinued till 1868, was revived in 1874-8o, and was held for the last time in The parliamentary borough of Greenwich returns one member. Two burgesses were returned in 1577, but it was not again repre sented till 1832.