The Old Royal Naval College grew up on the site of the Tudor Palace in Greenwich, where Henry VIII and Elizabeth I were born. William and Mary commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design the present buildings in 1695 to house naval pensioners, and these became the Royal Naval College in 1873. The Painted Hall, decorated by Sir James Thornhill, and the Chapel are especially worth visiting as are the beautiful grounds. The Greenwich Foundation took over the administration of the site when the Royal Navy left the site in 1998.