GIA

NT

STEP

S &

CA

STLE

HIL

L

Exist

ing

view

: Ero

ded

hills

ide

and

vege

tatio

n ob

scur

ing

Flam

stee

d H

ouse

Prop

osed

vie

w: I

mpr

oved

vie

win

g ar

ea n

ext t

o W

olfe

Sta

tue

and

Roya

l Obs

erva

tory

Prop

osed

vie

w: R

esto

red

Gia

nt S

teps

and

sele

ctiv

e cl

eara

nce

of C

astle

Hill

to re

veal

Fla

mst

eed

Hou

se

Det

erio

ratio

n of

inte

grity

& v

isibi

lity

Det

erio

ratio

n of

cent

ral a

xis p

lant

ing

Orig

inal

des

ign

of G

iant

Ste

ps

1972

Pres

ent

1699

c 167

6

c 167

619

60s

Pres

ent

c 170

3-20

Gre

enw

ich

Park

Rev

ealed

Th

e pa

st, t

he p

rese

nt a

nd th

e fu

ture

ARE

A O

VER

VIE

W

Form

ed in

166

1, th

e G

rand

Axi

s at t

he

Gia

nt S

teps

form

ally

link

s the

Que

en’s

Hou

se in

the

low

er p

ark

with

the

mai

n tr

ee-li

ned

aven

ue at

the

top

of th

e slo

pe. O

rigin

ally

flan

ked

by fo

rmal

lin

es o

f tre

es, t

he o

rnam

enta

l lan

dfor

m

was

des

igne

d as

a se

ries o

f gia

nt g

rass

“s

teps

”, le

adin

g fr

om th

e bo

ttom

of

the

park

to th

e vi

ewin

g ar

ea at

the

top.

This

maj

or a

xis a

nd d

esig

ned

land

scap

e is

a sig

nific

ant c

ompo

nent

of

the

Wor

ld H

erita

ge S

ite. O

ver t

he

year

s the

step

s hav

e be

en e

rode

d an

d m

odifi

ed, b

oth

thro

ugh

use

and

vario

us u

nsym

path

etic

wor

ks w

ithin

th

e pa

rk.

Cas

tle H

ill su

ppor

ts th

e O

ld R

oyal

O

bser

vato

ry, f

ound

ed in

167

6, a

nd

incl

udes

Fla

mst

eed

Hou

se (G

rade

I)

perc

hed

on th

e cr

est o

f the

hill

. The

stee

p slo

pes o

f Cas

tle H

ill p

rovi

de th

e la

ndsc

ape

setti

ng fo

r the

Obs

erva

tory

bu

ildin

gs, b

ut th

e ve

geta

tion

has

grow

n to

par

tially

obs

cure

vie

ws.

INIT

IAL

THO

UG

HTS

&

POSS

IBLE

PRO

POSA

LS

Giv

en th

e hi

stor

ic, o

ngoi

ng a

nd

futu

re p

ress

ure

from

cont

inue

d hi

gh

visit

or n

umbe

rs, Th

e Ro

yal P

arks

ar

e de

velo

ping

land

scap

e pr

opos

als

for C

astle

Hill

and

the

Wol

fe st

atue

vi

ewin

g ar

ea w

hich

will

rest

ore

the

hist

oric

vie

w o

f Fla

mst

eed

Hou

se,

impr

ove

the

qual

ity a

nd ap

pear

ance

of

the

view

ing

terr

ace

and

land

scap

e se

tting

aro

und

the

Wol

f Sta

tue,

and

addr

ess i

ssue

s ass

ocia

ted

with

ero

sion

of th

e G

iant

Ste

ps, p

ossib

ly re

stor

ing

thei

r orig

inal

land

form

.

Cas

tle H

ill &

Roy

al O

bser

vato

ry

• ‘ R

ecla

im th

e hi

ll’ a

s the

setti

ng fo

r Fl

amst

eed

Hou

se to

bet

ter r

eflec

t th

e ec

olog

y ch

arac

teris

tic o

f the

sit

e an

d its

hist

oric

aes

thet

ic. Th

is w

ould

mea

n re

stor

ing

gors

e an

d he

ath,

thus

impr

ovin

g bi

odiv

ersit

y.•

Sele

ctiv

e cl

eara

nce

of e

ncro

achi

ng

bram

ble

and

vege

tatio

n to

the

Nor

th

and

East

of F

lam

stee

d H

ouse

.•

Enha

nce

and

re-e

stab

lish

key

view

s w

ithin

and

out

side

the

park

.

Gia

nt S

teps

• C

onsid

er re

stor

ing

the

Gia

nt S

teps

an

d as

soci

ated

form

al tr

ee p

lant

ing.

• Re

flect

hea

thla

nd sl

opes

and

aci

dic

soil

char

acte

ristic

of t

he si

te to

im

prov

e ec

olog

y. •

Dev

elop

pro

posa

ls in

conj

unct

ion

with

the

view

ing

area

to in

tegr

ate

the

desig

n an

d pr

even

t ero

sion

at

the

view

ing

area

.