Accessibility
Tickets
Visitors with disabilities are entitled to bring a personal assistant free of charge.
Check our What’s On page for more details on upcoming events – you can filter the list to see which events are access enhanced.
Site access and distance
The Old Royal Naval College is a large site with Grade I listed buildings that have been added to over the years. There are accessible routes in different parts. Staff can recommend the most convenient route depending on what you’d like to see.
Painted Hall and Nelson Room
There is a lift available into the King William Undercroft, where the main cafe and shop are situated, as well as buggy parking and a lift into the main section of the Painted Hall and Nelson Room.
View the Painted Hall AccessAble guide.
Chapel of St Peter & St Paul
Wheelchair access to the Chapel is via a lift on College Way. Please email drobson@ornc.org in advance if you need to use the lift, so we can assist you. A stairmate is also available for Chapel access.
The lift cannot accommodate mobility scooters, but we have a wheelchair available. Mobility scooter users should email drobson@ornc.org to arrange wheelchair use.
Note: The lift is unavailable during services or recitals.
View the Chapel AccessAble guide.
Visitor Centre
There is a lift from the ground floor to the mezzanine.
View the Visitor Centre AccessAble guide.
Blind and partially sighted visitors
You can listen to a description of the buildings and our site on Soundcloud. We have embedded it here for you to listen to.
Visitor services team guides
Members of our visitor services team have been trained to assist with guiding. If you are planning a visit and would benefit from a guide or support getting to the site from Cutty Sark DLR station please call 020 8269 4799 or email access@ornc.org.
Our team receives regular training to support visitors with disabilities and there are always first aid trained staff working 10am–5pm. We also participate in the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends initiative and many members of our team have undergone this awareness training.
British Sign Language (BSL) and Speech to Text tours and events
Our upcoming events are listed here. You can filter the events list to show access enhanced events.
The following video has been created by a group of young people from DeafQuake as part of a project exploring the history of the Old Royal Naval College.
Our virtual tour is available in BSL.
You can download a PDF transcript of our welcome video here.
Autistic visitors
We are committed to being an accessible venue for autistic visitors and their family and friends. The pre-visit Autism information sheet provides details that we hope you will find useful but should you have any specific queries please contact the learning team at learning@ornc.org and we will be happy to assist you. Site maps can also be purchased from our Visitor Centre.
Facilities
Toilets
Our main visitor toilets are located in the Visitor Centre. These are open daily between 10am–5pm. There is level access and a separate accessible toilet. Baby changing facilities are also available in this area. To make use of them, you will need to purchase a Discover Greenwich £3 ticket.
Toilets located beneath the Painted Hall, next to the King William Undercroft have step free access, with baby changing facilities available. These are open daily, 10am–5pm.
There is also an accessible toilet in the Old Brewery.
There are toilets in the Queen Mary Undercroft below the Chapel which are usually open 10am–4pm. Occasionally these may have to close due to events taking place. These toilets are accessed down the spiral staircase in the entrance to the Chapel (19 steps). There is no completely step free access to these toilets but if you are unable to use the spiral staircase, please speak to a member of our team who will be able to accompany you around the building to an entrance with two steps.
Lighting
The Visitor Centre and Chapel are both brightly lit. Light levels in the Painted Hall have to be kept lower for conservation reasons.
Wheelchairs
Manual wheelchairs are available to hire from the Tourist Information Centre in the Visitor Centre open 10am–5pm. These are allocated on a first come, first served basis. There is a deposit of £50 which is refunded when the wheelchair is returned. For further information you can contact us by calling 020 830 55235 or emailing tic@visitgreenwich.org.uk.
Hearing loops
There are hearing loops installed in the Visitor Centre and the Chapel. You will see signage in places where a hearing loop is installed. If applicable to your hearing aid, please switch it to the ‘T’ position in these locations.
Audio guides
Audio described tours are available for blind and partially-sighted visitors. These tours are led by staff and volunteers who have been trained in audio description by Vocaleyes.
Ear defenders
The hand dryers in our toilets are quite noisy. Ear defenders are available to borrow from the Visitor Centre, Painted Hall and Chapel. These can be used outside of the buildings but must be returned by 5pm. Please ask at our welcome desk.
Getting Around
Car parking
Car parking for blue badge holders is available in the Park Row car park, opposite the East Gate entrance.
Taxi drop-off
For taxi drop-offs, we suggest either Park Row (nearer the East Gate) or King William Walk (nearer the West Gate). The East Gate entrance is usually slightly quieter than the West Gate entrance.
Step-free access across the site
The dotted line on the map above shows step free access across the site. The distance from East Gate to West Gate is approximately 372 metres (1220 feet). If you are visiting between 10am–5pm and would like assistance, please ask a member of our team.
Rest areas
There are benches located across the site. Seating areas are available in the Painted Hall and the King William Undercroft below.
Guide and hearing dogs
Guide dogs are welcome in all areas of the Old Royal Naval College including the Visitor Centre, Chapel and Painted Hall.
Quiet and busy times to visit
Our busiest times are usually in summer months, around 12–4pm. As we have a lot of outside space, the weather often has an impact on how busy the site feels. Lots of people will enjoy picnics in the grounds on a sunny day so it can be busier later into the evening. We are generally quieter before 12pm.
Our quietest months are November–February. We recommend that you check our website before your visit to see if there are any special events or closures. This will have an impact on how many people are around the site.
Buildings Access
Visitor Centre
Our Visitor Centre is fully accessible, with level access on the ground floor and lift access to all floors. The lift has tactile operation buttons and braille on the lift numbers. There is also a voiceover recording to alert you to the floor that you are on.
Lift specifications: door width 91cm (35’’), lift length 138cm (54’’), weight limit 1488lbs/675kg.
Painted Hall
The capacity of the lift from College Way into the main body of the Painted Hall is one wheelchair user and one companion OR four people standing. Lift specification: weight limit 881lbs/400kg.
For visitors not using the lift but requiring step-free access to the front door of the Painted Hall, the route outlined by the dotted line on the map above should be used. Once you are inside the Painted Hall, there are 15 steps to access the Lower Hall. There are 6 steps from the Lower Hall to the Upper Hall.
Chapel
Access to the Chapel for wheelchair users is via a lift, which is accessible from College Way. We recommend letting us know in advance of your visit that you will need to use the lift, so that we can make sure we have someone on hand to assist you. Please email drobson@ornc.org if you will need to use the lift while onsite.
The lift is not suitable for mobility scooters, however we have a wheelchair you may use to visit the Chapel if you need to. Please email drobson@ornc.org to enquire about using our wheelchair if you are a mobility scooter user.
Please note, the lift will not be available while services or recitals are taking place in the Chapel. Find out dates and times for Chapel events.
A Stairmate is also available for access into the Chapel.
For visitors not using the lift or Stairmate but requiring step free access to the front door of the Chapel, the route outlined by the dotted line on the map above should be used. Once you are inside the Chapel, there are 14 steps to access the main body of the Chapel.
Café and Pub
The Painted Hall Cafe has step free access with a lift next to the entrance steps. The Old Brewery has level access throughout and accessible toilet facilities.
Distances
Cutty Sark to Visitor Centre - 98m
Greenwich Pier to Visitor Centre - 79m
Visitor Centre to Painted Hall - 245m
Painted Hall to Chapel accessible entrance - 152m
Painted Hall to Chapel - 48m
East Gate entrance to Painted Hall - 190m
Visitor Centre to Admiral’s House - 207m
Admiral's house to Painted Hall - 118m
West Gate entrance to Painted Hall - 177m
Romney Road entrance to Painted Hall - 170m
