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Stand on the Prime Meridian, and see the clocks that solved longitude.
HistoryScience & natureHeights & viewsPermanent
In Royal Observatory, Greenwich.
Charles II founded it in 1675 to fix the problem of finding longitude at sea, and the answer is on display: John Harrison's marine timekeepers, four attempts across forty years ending in a watch the size of a dinner plate that kept time accurately enough to navigate by. The Meridian Line runs through the courtyard and everyone stands on it. Wren's Octagon Room, the oldest part of the building, is upstairs with its absurdly tall windows, built for observing with long telescopes. Under the onion dome is the Great Equatorial Telescope of 1893, still one of the largest refractors in the world. The galleries also hold the story of Greenwich Mean Time and how a hill in south London came to set the world's clocks. Ticketed; the Peter Harrison Planetarium is closed at present.
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Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.