Brendan Hicks - Friends' Chairman
Welcome to our new website! The Friends of Greenwich Park hope that this will help you, your friends and family, get the most out of visiting this remarkable place. We aim to:
New Friends website finally launched!
Shortly after becoming Chairman, Brendan Hicks initiated a review of the use made of electronic media in communicating with our members and the public. Because use of the Internet is so much more widespread, and people expect news to be more current, it was decided to upgrade our website in a manner that makes it easier for us to add to it without recourse to technical support.
Greenwich Park Equestrian Olympic Planning Applications - The Friends' Response
LOCOG's planning applications for the use of Greenwich Park and Circus Field for the Olympic and Paralympic Games were submitted to Greenwich Council at the end of November.
Greenwich is the oldest of London's Royal Parks and was famously the hunting and pleasure grounds for Henry VIII's favourite royal palace. Seventy three hectares (183 acres), the park stretches from the level plateau of gravel and sands of Blackheath in the south, then drops some 30 metres (nearly 100ft) before levelling out on the north side towards the Thames.
Opened to the public by George IV in 1830, the park is enjoyed today by thousands of visitors at all times of the year. They come to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, the historic avenues and formal parkland, to play sports and picnic, to watch the deer and other wildlife, and to appreciate the views over London and the Thames.
Greenwich Park is the centrepiece of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and the setting for the internationally important National Maritime Museum and historic buildings including Wren’s Flamsteed House and Inigo Jones’ 17th century masterpiece, the Queen’s House.