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This weekend I visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Surprisingly the sculpture by the end of the line was not there, so I wonder what happened to it.

Here's a picture of what it used to be like. Now there's only a line on the ground.

Prime Meridian sculpture in Greenwich

I asked four members of the staff but I didn't get a clear answer:

  • The first staff member said it was removed by the artist.
  • The second member of the staff said it has been taken by a bank because of unknown reasons.
  • And the other two staff members said that they had no idea.

And I have done my research, but I haven't found any satisfactory answer so far.

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    This site indicates it was removed in 2015, but doesn't say why.
    – Michael Seifert
    Aug 27, 2018 at 14:54
  • It was still there in late May 2015 when I was there.
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Aug 28, 2018 at 15:13
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    The problem is we're in British Summer Time right now, so you'll find the statue about an hour further down the road than you expect.
    – Bilkokuya
    Aug 28, 2018 at 16:25
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    This blog post from the Royal Observatory says that the sculpture was placed there for Millennium celebrations; so it may never have been intended to be a permanent fixture.
    – Michael Seifert
    Aug 28, 2018 at 16:56
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    Designed by Christiana Garzia, the piece was installed in 1999, a public sculpture commission sponsored by The Times newspaper and, subsequently, under the care of the Royal Observatory. However, as public art, the Royal Borough of Greenwich may have oversight (that bit is murky, as there is an ongoing debate of who owns public art).
    – Giorgio
    Aug 30, 2018 at 14:30

1 Answer 1

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A Facebook conversation with Royal Museums Greenwich reports the following:

[T]he sculpture was returned to its owner 'News Print International' (sic) after its loan was complete. It went to their print works in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, although whether it is still there, we do not know.

Designed by Christiana Garzia, the piece was installed in 1999, a public sculpture commission sponsored by The Times newspaper and, subsequently, under the care of the Royal Observatory until 2015, when it was removed.

Newsprinters Broxbourne is the printer to many of the UK’s newspapers, including The Times.

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