From 8 March, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich will be introducing charges for part of its site. Admission will be charged for Flamsteed House and the Meridian Line only. The Astronomy Centre with its three interactive galleries will remain free. 

An adult ticket will cost £10. Tickets for concessions and pre-booked groups will cost £7.50. Children of 15 and under will be free. In each case, tickets will also be an annual pass so that local and UK visitors in particular will be able to visit as many times as they like during the year for no additional charge.

For much of its life as a historic visitor attraction, the Royal Observatory has been a charging site. Since moving to free entry in 2001, visitor numbers have increased to 1.58 million. This is a great success story, but also substantially increases wear and tear on the site. The Museum needs to ensure that it has the resources to manage visitors safely, while improving their experience and maintaining the world-famous site and displays at the Royal Observatory. 

The Museum is also involved in ongoing developments to update all of its galleries and facilities over a ten year period after a prolonged period of limited investment in these areas and needs to look at generating more of its own revenue to enable this work to progress.

Lord Sterling, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Maritime Museum said, 'After thorough deliberation, Trustees have taken the decision that the only responsible and practical course of action we can adopt is to return to charging for the Meridian Line and Flamsteed House at the Royal Observatory.'

Issued by National Maritime Museum Press Office

For further information, please contact:
National Maritime Museum Press Office: 020 8312 6790/6732/6545
Email: stwigg@rmg.co.uk or press@rmg.co.uk 

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian and one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. Since its founding in 1675, Greenwich has been at the centre of the measurement of time and space. Visitors can stand in both the eastern and western hemispheres simultaneously by placing their feet either side of the Prime Meridian line. Today the Observatory galleries and Peter Harrison Planetarium help unravel the extraordinary phenomena of time, space and astronomy.

2. The Royal Observatory Greenwich has traditionally been a charging heritage site. It became a free entry site under the policy change of the Labour Government in 2001.