Exploring Greenwich

Although most of our discussions and deliberations on HIST3275, ‘A Short History of Exploration’, have taken place in lecture theatres and seminar rooms, this week we decided to do something different. On Wednesday morning, an intrepid band of third-year historians and tutors gathered at Avenue Campus preparing to embark on our very own expedition of discovery. Our aim was to navigate our way to Greenwich in South East London in search of the National Maritime Museum.

In a reminder of the kinds of logistical challenges faced by explorers of the past, our departure was delayed. Rather than contrary winds in the Channel or problems with victualling in port, however, the cause of our delay was the rather more prosaic problem of a tailback on the M27…

Nevertheless, we made good speed and emerged into bright spring sunshine. Standing in the grounds of the museum, opposite the Old Royal Naval College, we had an opportunity to survey our surroundings. The Queen’s House, the Royal Observatory, and Yinka Shonibare’s impressive work of art, Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, offered us a sense of the museum’s history as well as its present-day priorities.

Our first port of call inside the museum was the Pacific Encounters gallery, where we came across objects and themes associated with exploration in the eighteenth-century Pacific Ocean. Having studied the topic the week before, this was an opportunity to compare what we had read and spoken about in class with some tangible, three-dimensional pieces of historical evidence. A brief foray into the Tudor and Stuart Seafarers gallery – where we saw Admiralty Board models, pages from Edward Barlow’s journal, and Sir Francis Drake’s silver-mounted coconut cup – was followed by a trek through the Nelson, Navy, Nation gallery. By that stage, mutiny was in the air, which only a lunch break could quell.

Sustained by fresh victuals, we reconvened in the afternoon and spent some time looking at and thinking about the various objects associated with the Indian Ocean and the East India Company on display in the Traders gallery.

The highlight of the day, however, was the opportunity to meet Dr Aaron Jaffer, Curator of World History and Cultures at the museum. Aaron answered our queries and gave us some fascinating insights into the weird and wonderful world of museums that often remains hidden behind the display cases.

Thanks to Aaron for his time and to the Jean Curry Memorial Fund for helping us to get to Greenwich (and back again)!