Herstmonceux was the second home of the Royal Observatory which was founded by King Charles II in 1675 at Greenwich, London. Its role was to chart and map the heavens in order to solve one of the great problems of the age; to be able to work out a ships longitude when out of sight of land. With a reliable clock that would keep 'Greenwich' time for weeks at sea which was produced by John Harrison in 1773, it was finally possible to calculate a vessels position. For this reason the Royal Observatory was part of the Admiralty who ran it until 1965 - the drainpipes on the many of the buildings sport 'anchors'! From 1965 the Science Research Council took over control. In 1880 Greenwich time became the standard time for the nation - a necessity brought about by the railways which required a standard time across the country to avoid chaos. In 1884 it gained the distinction of becoming the global point for measuring time and is to this day. However by the early decades of the 1900s, Greenwich had become a suburb of London and was not an ideal location for telescopes which require pollution free skies (from both smog and light) in order to function efficiently.