Greenwich is a town in the London borough of Greenwich . It became known as East Greenwich to distinguish it from West Greenwich or Deptford Strond , the part of Deptford adjacent to the Thames , but the use of East Greenwich to mean the whole of the town of Greenwich died out in the 19th century . However , Greenwich was divided into the two Poor Law Unions of Greenwich East and Greenwich West from the beginning of Civil registration in 1837 , the boundary running down what is now Greenwich Church Street and Crooms Hill , although more modern references to `` East '' and `` West '' Greenwich probably refer to the areas east and west of the Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum corresponding with the West Greenwich council ward .