Accessibility

We welcome visitors with disabilities, their families, friends and carers

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.

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.

Map of Old Royal Naval College

Click here to download our accessibility map

The information below will help you to plan your visit but if you have any access-related questions please get in touch.

Tel: 020 8269 4799
Email: [email protected]

 

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 [email protected].

British Sign Language 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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.