Greenwich Hospital from the River, Thames, Wood Engraving, circa 1880

About this sheet

An original wood engraving of Greenwich Hospital seen across the Thames, lettered beneath the image "Greenwich Hospital, from the River" and at lower left within the border "Cassell's Old & New London, Plate, 57."

The view looks straight across the river to Wren's great riverside buildings, with the long colonnaded blocks to either side and the twin domed towers rising at the center above the trees of the park. On the water a heavily laden hay barge with a brown sail passes in the foreground, two sailing barges ride at anchor and a rowing boat crosses toward the steps, while a broad sky of rolling clouds fills the upper half of the picture.

The Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich was founded in 1694 under William and Mary as a home for disabled and retired sailors of the Royal Navy, and was designed principally by Sir Christopher Wren, with later work by Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh. The buildings were laid out in two halves so that the view from the Queen's House to the river was kept open. The pensioners left in 1869, and from 1873 the buildings housed the Royal Naval College; today the site is the Old Royal Naval College, part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.

Cassell's Old and New London, begun by Walter Thornbury and completed by Edward Walford, was issued in parts by Cassell, Petter and Galpin from the 1870s and remained in print for many years. The numbered full page plates, printed on toned paper, were issued with the work around 1880.

It is an attractive print for collectors of maritime and naval subjects, of Wren's architecture and of the Thames, and it would look well in a study or hallway.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.