The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings form part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and 17th-century Queen’s House. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

It has the world’s largest maritime historical reference library (100,000 volumes) including books dating back to the 15th century. An active loans programme ensures that items from the collection are seen in the UK and abroad. Through its displays, exhibitions and outreach programmes the Museum also explores our current relationship with the sea and the future of the sea as an environmental force and resource.

By virtue of its pairing with the Royal Observatory, the Museum enjoys a unique conjunction of subjects (History, Science and the Arts), enabling it to trace the movement and accomplishments of people and the origins and consequences of the Empire. The outcome of the Museum’s work is to achieve – for all its users at home and overseas – a greater understanding of British economic, cultural, social, political and maritime history and its consequences in the world today.

www.nmm.ac.uk