Twin domes and a colonnaded courtyard at the Old Royal Naval College have played Buckingham Palace and Napoleonic Paris on screen, below a hill that rises to the Royal Observatory.
What Greenwich looks like
Two matching stone domes rise over a pair of colonnaded wings that face each other across Grand Square, a paved and lawned courtyard running down toward the river. The colonnades themselves are two storeys of pale Portland stone, columns lined up in long straight rows under a plain balustraded roofline. Set back on the far side of the square, between the two domed wings, stands the . It is a plain white building with its own single storey colonnade running off to one side.
Inside the King William building, the 's domed ceiling is covered edge to edge in gilt framed baroque murals rising in tiers above arched windows. Across the square in the opposite wing, the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul has its own smaller dome, topped with a gold ball finial. Inside, a single barrel vaulted nave runs between rows of dark wood pews to a shipwreck scene painted over the altar, a gallery running along both walls above them. The chapel's plasterwork is lighter and plainer than the Painted Hall's gilding, dating from the 1780s rather than the 1700s.
A hill behind the college climbs through to a brick observatory building at the top, the college's own domes and the Canary Wharf towers both visible looking back down. Below the hill, 's masts and rigging rise above a glass dry dock canopy at the river's edge. A short walk from the college gates, runs under a colonnaded stone entrance and a glazed roof.
Shot in Greenwich
Grand Square sits between the college's two domed wings, the paved court redressed for more productions than any other part of the site. The Painted Hall and the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul, one in each wing facing onto it, each carry their own separate credits below.
Les Miserables
Grand Square
Played a Paris barricade street, Paris, France, June 1832
For the barricade sequence in Les Miserables, Grand Square was dressed as a nineteenth century Paris street, with a seven metre elephant statue built on site at one end of the court. The colonnades on either side stood in for the buildings lining a Paris backstreet during the June Rebellion of 1832.
Thor: The Dark World
Marvel's 2013 Thor sequel staged its climactic battle between Thor and Malekith across Grand Square, with the Painted Hall's interior redressed as a library for the same sequence. The film sets the fight at Greenwich itself, tied to the Royal Observatory's Prime Meridian a short walk up the hill, so this is the real place playing itself rather than standing in for somewhere else.
Napoleon
Played the Chateau de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, France, 1799
Napoleon used the Painted Hall as the Chateau de Saint-Cloud, the palace outside Paris where Bonaparte seized power in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799. The production filmed at the college for seventeen days, also dressing the upper square as a Parisian street under cannon fire for a separate scene.
Bridgerton
Played a Mayfair society wedding, Mayfair, London, the Regency era, the 1810s
Bridgerton used the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul for Penelope and Colin's wedding, one of several scenes the Netflix series has shot at the college across its first three seasons. Grand Square, colour graded in greys and blues, appears again in a funeral scene. That scene is from Queen Charlotte, the Bridgerton spin-off shot at the college between its second and third seasons. Street View
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Played St Mary of the Fields, Cripplegate, London, United Kingdom, 1994
Four Weddings and a Funeral used the same chapel for its second wedding, between Bernard and Lydia. The same production also used the Painted Hall's own steps and the steps into Queen Mary Court elsewhere on the site.
The Crown
Played the Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, London, United Kingdom, 1973
The Netflix series The Crown used the Chapel of St Peter and St Paul as the Guards' Chapel at Wellington Barracks for Camilla Parker-Bowles' 1973 wedding to Andrew Parker Bowles in the show's third season. A temporary portico fitted onto Queen Anne Court doubled for the entrance to Buckingham Palace in the first two seasons, and College Way stood in for Michael Fagan's 1982 break-in in season four.
What Greenwich can double for
Custom House in Dublin, Ireland
The Custom House on the Liffey has the same pale Portland stone walls as Greenwich's colonnades, and its dome sits over the river the way the college's domes do. It was completed in 1791, close enough to Greenwich's own building dates to pass for the same period on screen. The dome was rebuilt in a visibly darker limestone after a 1921 fire, so keep it out of any shot meant to match Greenwich's pale stone closely. The building is also a single block rather than a courtyard between two wings. Try searching Portland stone dome river now.
Royal Hospital Chelsea in London, United Kingdom
Christopher Wren designed the Royal Hospital Chelsea as the army's own veterans hospital a decade before he took on Greenwich's naval version. Its central block has a Roman Doric portico in Portland stone, with single storey colonnades opening onto Figure Court much the way Grand Square opens between Greenwich's two wings. Chelsea has one modest cupola rather than Greenwich's twin domes, and its courtyard walls are dark brick rather than pale stone throughout. Keep the roofline and the brick out of a shot meant to stand in for Greenwich. Try searching Doric portico Figure Court now.
United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland
Bancroft Hall's own courtyard at the United States Naval Academy is pale granite rather than Portland stone. Its Beaux-Arts wings date from 1901 to 1906, two centuries after Greenwich's own buildings went up. It still opens onto Tecumseh Court the way Grand Square opens at Greenwich, which suits an early twentieth century naval setting Greenwich's own baroque detailing cannot. The stone colour and the Beaux-Arts detailing read differently up close, so keep the comparison to wide shots of the courtyard rather than close facade work. Try searching Beaux-Arts naval academy courtyard now.
