The park is open year-round. It is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. In 2020, it was awarded a National Lottery grant to restore its historic features, build a learning centre, enhance the park’s biodiversity, and provide better access for people with disabilities.
The park is roughly rectangular in plan with sides 1000 metres by 750 metres and oriented with the long sides lying NNW to SSE. In what follows this direction is taken to be N to S for ease of exposition. The park is on two levels, with a number of dips and gullies marking the transition between them. The lower level (closest to the National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House and, beyond them, the Thames) lies to the north; from there a steep walk uphill reveals the southern part – a flat expanse that is, essentially, an enclosed extension of the plateau of Blackheath.
On the lower level of the park there is a popular children’s playground (north-east corner, close to Maze Hill railway station), an adjacent boating lake, & a small orchard (‘The Queen’s Orchard’). There is also a herb garden (close by entrance to Greenwich town centre).
On the upper level, there is an extensive flower garden complete with large duck pond, a rose garden, a cricket pitch, many 17th-century sweet chestnut trees with gnarled, swirling trunks, tennis courts, a bandstand, Roman remains, an ancient oak tree (known as Queen Elizabeth’s Oak, associated with Queen Elizabeth I) and an enclosure (‘The Wilderness’) housing some wild deer.
Nestling just behind the Observatory is the garden of the former Astronomer Royal, a peaceful secluded space which is good for picnics and also sometimes used by theatre groups (Midsummer Night’s Dream, etc.). On the opposite side (i.e., just south of the Wolfe statue) is the Park Café. There is another, smaller café by the north-west gate, and a snack bar in the children’s playground.
It is possible to park (pay and display) in areas along the main roads entering from Blackheath. Cycle routes criss-cross the park (as do runners, roller-bladers, dog-walkers, etc.). Until 2020, other road traffic (cars and motor-cycles) could use the park road linking Blackheath and Greenwich at peak periods on weekdays.
