350 years and counting: three and a half centuries of perseverance, ingenuity and public duty at the ROG

Synopsis: On 10 August 1675, John Flamsteed laid the foundation stone of the new Royal Observatory situated in Greenwich Park. Little did the first Astronomer Royal know that two centuries later his ‘small observatory’, designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, would become the world’s reference for time and longitude.

As we celebrate the site’s 350th anniversary in 2025, I’d like to take this opportunity to explore the myriad of stories associated with this small cluster of buildings that ultimately shaped how we measure, standardise and distribute time; how we explore and map the planet; and how we record and question distant objects in the universe. What was it like to work at such a unique place? What were the technical and social challenges? How did this place transform from just one man’s role into a major global scientific institution? Find out more as we travel through 350 years of…