'A Plan and Elevation of the New Piers and Porters Lodge on the West side of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich. Measured and Delineated in July 1752'

Plan and elevation of the West Gate piers and lodges of Greenwich Hospital, placed in their original position close to the King Charles and King William Courts in 1751. They are best shown there, with the original ironwork, in a photograph by Fox -Talbot reproduced in John Bold, 'Greenwich: an architectural history of the Royal Hospital for Seamen and the Queen's House' (2000) p.192, shortly before they were moved west to their present position in 1850 and the ironwork replaced. The design was by Thomas Ripley and/ or William Robinson, his clerk of works at Greenwich.

The two stone globes, six feet in diameter and weighing seven tons each, were designed by Richard Oliver, formerly mathematics master at Weston's Academy at Greenwich, who was paid 50 guineas for this in 1754. The one to the south (right) is terrestrial, with parallels of latitude laid in copper every 10 degrees. It also originally bore the track of Anson's voyage round the world, 1740-44. The celestial sphere, left, has inlays of 'the 24 meridians, the equinoxial, the ecliptic, tropics and circles' and a great number of stars (Bold, p.191). Erosion has now dissolved the stone, removing these details and making the copper bands stand proud.

Object Details

ID: PAD2183
Collection: Fine art
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Elder, James Basire the
Places: Greenwich
Date made: 1752
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Admiralty Collection