Hour Zero
Greenwich Meridian Line
The Greenwich Meridian Line is a line that marks “hour zero” on clocks around the world. On each side of this line there are 11 sections which lead to the national date line on the other side of the world.
Unfortunately, times change and technology breeds new standards. The Greenwich meridian has been split into 3 concepts: Prime, Magnetic and Geodetic.
Did you know? ⤵
- The observatory today is a newly built facility next to the original site where the prime meridian was originally agreed.
- If you stand at the door of the observatory today, with a GPS in hand, it will show you as not on the Greenwich Meridian.
Although this may have taken some of the magic of being able to have a foot on either side of the planet there is still a very nice photo opportunity at the Greenwich Observatory with a line in the floor showing the path of the meridian prime. This is the original measure (the line that goes between the north and south pole, through the Greenwich observatory).
To take a picture you need to go to the Royal Observatory. This is one of the many “ticketed” tourist attractions in London and can be booked at their website
At the moment (prices can change):
- Adults: £16
- Children up to 15: £8
- 0–4s: free
Admission times are between 10:30am to 4pm daily and there are other attractions available, apart from the meridian line, although an average visit would rarely take over a couple of hours to see everything.
