The barriers have been removed on Greenwich Park’s best-known viewpoint – revealing the results of a multi-million pound project to restore its long-lost Giant Steps.

Work on a new viewing platform around the General Wolfe statue has been completed, with visitors now able to take a close-up view of the grassy steps which have replaced the slope on Observatory Hill.

Sun-seekers hoping to pick out a prime spot for the coming heatwave will be disappointed, though. Park bosses have said that public access to the steps will be restricted, and parts of the area are still fenced off so the grass can grow.

Work began last autumn on the revamp, which has included new paving and a wider viewing platform around the General Wolfe statue, with a glass wall fencing off the hill. The wartime shrapnel damage remains on the memorial.

The view from the Wolfe statue now looks a little different… Image: The Greenwich Wire
…with the steps recreating a 17th-century feature. Image: The Greenwich Wire
A path across the foot of the hill has been removed as part of the project. Image: The Greenwich Wire
The new viewing platform includes a guide to what can be seen. Image: The Greenwich Wire

The six steps, which have been slowly emerging in recent months, recreate a feature that was originally in the park when it was landscaped in the 17th century, but fell victim to erosion over the years.

Recreating the steps had been mooted for decades, but finally came about in the £12 million Greenwich Park Revealed project, funded by lottery cash and philanthropic donations.

A new café in the south-east corner of the park as well as a wildlife meadow and learning centre have also opened as part of the project.