Greenwich Millennium: The 2000 Year Story of Greenwich - Softcover

Greenwich, the site of Britain's celebration of the new millennium, has been an emblem of British history for over a thousand years.

A seat of learning and intellectual enquiry, exploration and discovery, it resonates with echoes of great people and stirring national events. The Royal Observatory, constructed in Greenwich Park in the 1670s, has been the origin of standard time around the world. The ancient royal palace at Greenwich was the birthplace of three monarchs: Henry VIII, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth I. For all these regal associations, Blackheath, at the top of the park, has often featured as the scene of insurrection and revolt. It was here that Wat Tyler assembled his band of a hundred thousand rebels against the Poll Tax.

In the year 2000 Greenwich is as much a focus of national sentiment as it was in December 1805 when the body of Admiral Lord Nelson was brought to the Royal Naval Hospital after his death at Trafalgar. The funeral that followed was one of the most dramatic state occasions ever to have been staged in Britain.

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries bestowed upon Greenwich an incomparable parade of great and innovative buildings, by Inigo Jones, Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh. With the building of the Millennium Dome, the place continues its tradition of pioneering architecture. A favourite haunt of Dickens and home to London's first railway, Greenwich also throbbed with the energy of the Victorian age.

Beautifully illustrated, Clive Aslet presents a beguiling and charismatic portrait of Greenwich and a history of England through the story of this unique English town.

Clive Aslet is the editor of Country Life. He is the author of three previous books, the last, Anyone for England, published in 1997.