(Past Forward is a new monthly history column by Kavitha Rao on how the past shapes the present and the future.)
As a recent immigrant to the UK, I often find myself trapped between belligerent far-right rhetoric and a brash new brand of Hinduism. For the past five years, I have volunteered as a tour guide at the magnificent Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) in Greenwich, London. The stately white buildings—crowned with domes and surrounded by Greek columns—glow against the banks of the Thames.
The ORNC was built in 1696 by Sir Christopher Wren, on the site of Henry the VIII’s former palace. It was from here that Henry’s doomed wife Anne Boleyn was taken for her last voyage to the Tower in 1536, shortly to be beheaded for adultery. So photogenic is the site that it has been used as a set for many films and TV shows, and even as a replacement for Buckingham Palace. Visitors often recognise it from The Crown, The Diplomat, Pirates of the Caribbean, and several other popular shows.
Later, the ORNC was turned into a retirement home for sailors, even including some Indians. The site became a monument for the British Navy, with a glorious baroque “Painted Hall” plastered with scenes of British maritime exploration. Or, as we call it, colonisation.
The Thames also has a dark past. The British Navy and the royals were both actively involved in slavery, and most of their ships sailed down the Thames. Across the river—next to the glittering offices of Canary Wharf—is West India Quay, built to handle sugar, rum, and coffee harvested in the Caribbean using slave labour.