Our Collections

Spanning the Greenwich Palace, Greenwich Hospital and the Royal Naval College, the collection reflects the site’s evolving roles as a royal residence, a naval welfare institution, a centre of naval education and a cultural landmark. It includes archaeology, archives, uniforms, textiles, fine and decorative art, photographs, rare books and social history objects. Items from the collection are displayed across the site, including the Visitor Centre, Chapel, Admiral’s House and Painted Hall.

The Foundation’s most significant archival holdings include the Greenwich Hospital papers (c.1809-1862), which document the administration of one of Britain’s earliest welfare institutions, together with historical prints and rare books relating to Admiral Lord Nelson, the Victorian naval surgeon Dr James Wingate Johnston, WRNS officer Nina Wilkin, and Captain Guy Plantagenet Bigg-Wither of the Royal Navy Staff College.

The Foundation also cares for a significant collection of objects. Highlights include a rare seventeenth-century witch bottle, complete with its contents, and an early nineteenth-century papier-mâché smoking model depicting a Greenwich and a Chelsea Pensioner. We are the custodians of the archaeological archives from excavations of the Tudor Palace of Placentia and the wider site.

Together, our collections support research into maritime, naval, and architectural history, as well as social and local history. Through research services, exhibitions, learning programmes, and digital interpretation, our collections help deepen understanding of this internationally significant historic site and the people connected with it.

Acquisitions and donations

The collection continues to develop through purchase, donation and bequest. Potential acquisitions are normally accepted where they support our collecting priorities, address gaps in the collection, avoid unnecessary duplication, and can be appropriately catalogued, cared for and made accessible within available resources.

Research access

The Greenwich Foundation welcomes research enquiries relating to its collections, archives, exhibitions and archaeological holdings. Researchers are encouraged to provide as much information as possible about their enquiry to help staff identify relevant material. Access is by appointment only, and some material may be subject to conservation, copyright, data protection or other access restrictions.

Contact our team

• For collections, archives, donations and object research enquiries: collections@ornc.org
• For general enquiries relating to the history of the site, please contact our interpretations team via: info@ornc.org

Please note, that we do not hold the institutional or admiralty records for Greenwich Palace, the Greenwich Hospital, the Royal Naval College, or the Royal Hospital School. Researchers are encouraged to contact the relevant institution directly for access to these records:

• The Historic Royal Palaces and The National Archives (for Greenwich Palace records)
• The National Archives (for official records of Greenwich Hospital and the Royal Naval College, including personnel and service records)
• The Caird Library, National Maritime Museum (for naval history and Greenwich Hospital-related records)
• The National Museum of the Royal Navy (for general naval and family history enquiries)
• The Royal Hospital School, Holbrook (for school history enquiries)

Please note, we are unable to provide object identification or valuation services.