Monument

Greenwich Royal Naval Hospital Old Burial Ground

Erection date: 1892

Inscription

{On the north face:}
In memory of the gallant officers and men of the Royal Navy and Marines to the number of about twenty thousand, formerly inmates of the Royal Hospital Greenwich, whose remains were interred in this cemetery between the years 1749 and 1869. 

{and low down:}
Erected by order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty 1892.

{The other three sides carry a list of names, in date of death sequence.  See Subjects commemorated for the names.}

{Above the text or the list each side also carries: the name of a key virtue and the name of a key battle, listed here clockwise starting with the north face:}
Valour
Honour
Loyalty {inside a laurel wreath}
Duty

Trafalgar
St Vincent
Camperdown
Nile

{The anchor is on the north face.  The south has a sculpture of a shrouded gun.}

The names on the monument are of men whose claim to immortality is their role in running the Hospital rather than any heroic deed. Most were 'Governor' of the Hospital, a post that dates back to 1708, though the first one listed here, Hood, was appointed in 1796. And it seems to have been standard for the Governor to stay in the post until death.

In 1875, after the Hospital had closed, the digging of a tunnel for the London and Greenwich Railway meant that the remains had to be disinterred. They were removed to East Greenwich Pleasaunce which in 1926 was made a public park.

Site: Greenw'h Ry. Naval Hosp. Old Burial Grnd (1 memorial)

SE10, Romney Road, Devonport House burial ground

This green space was used, 1742 - 1857, as the main cemetery for Greenwich Hospital.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Greenwich Royal Naval Hospital Old Burial Ground

Subjects commemorated i

Battle of St Vincent

A British fleet, lead by John Jervis, defeated a Spanish fleet almost twice i...

Read More

Battle of Trafalgar

A sea battle that took place off Cape Trafalgar on the south west coast of Sp...

Read More

Sailors buried in the Devonport House burial ground

"Gallant officers and men of the Royal Navy and Marines to the number of abou...

Read More

Admiral, Sir Charles Adam, KCB

Naval officer.  Governor of Greenwich Hospital, July 1847 until his death.  D...

Read More

Captain John Bouchier

Naval officer.  On 15 February 1783 he was court-martialled, along with his o...

Read More

Show all 21

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Greenwich Royal Naval Hospital Old Burial Ground

Created by i

Nearby Memorials

Hendon war memorial - WW2

Hendon war memorial - WW2

NW4, Watford Way

The Listing entry informs: "After the Second World War a stone block was added to the south side of the memorial at the base of plinth to...

War dead | WW2
230 subjects commemorated
All Saints Fulham war memorial

All Saints Fulham war memorial

SW6, Putney Bridge Approach, All Saints church, Fulham

War memorials online provides: "This memorial commemorates parishioners who died during the Great War. Their names are recorded on a seco...

2 subjects commemorated
Fleet Air Arm

Fleet Air Arm

SW1, Victoria Embankment, Victoria Embankment Gardens - Whitehall section

This bronze figure represents Daedalus, the Greek guy who crafted wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape Crete.  But he used wax ...

7 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Boy David

Boy David

SW3, Chelsea Embankment

Commissioned to create a WW1 memorial to the Machine Gun Corps Derwent Wood produced a statue of David (post-Goliath decapitation). The o...

3 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Euston War Memorial

Euston War Memorial

NW1, Euston Road

This memorial forms the roundabout in the bus station in front of Euston Station.

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Abram Games

Abram Games

Designer. Born Abraham Gamse in Whitechapel. In WW2 he was approached by the War Office to produce a recruitment poster, and became an official war artist, designing many more posters. After the wa...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Mayflower Tenants Association

Mayflower Tenants Association

Tenants and residents association in Rotherhithe, based in Mayflower Hall, 1 Neptune Street, SE16, on the site of Rotherhithe Old Town Hall.

Group, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
Sarah Goulding (Mrs Brown)

Sarah Goulding (Mrs Brown)

Sold Hampstead properties 1779.

Person, Property

1 memorial
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merging of the separate former boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. It was originally planned to call it just Kensington, but Chelsea was added after local prot...

Group, Politics & Administration

31 memorials
Paolo Veronese

Paolo Veronese

Artist. Born in Verona as Paolo Caliari (he took his professional name from his birthplace). He trained as a stone-cutter, but under the influence of Titian settled in Venice. He produced frescoes ...

Person, Art, Italy

2 memorials