| The King's Observatory | |
|---|---|
| Kew Observatory | |
 The King's Observatory in winter | |
| Location | Old Deer Park |
| Nearest city | Richmond, London |
| Coordinates | 51°28′08″N0°18′53″W / 51.4689°N 0.3147°W /51.4689; -0.3147 |
| Built | 1769 |
| Built for | George III of the United Kingdom |
| Original use | Astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatory |
| Current use | Private dwelling |
| Architect | Sir William Chambers |
| Owner | Crown Estate |
| Website | www |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Kew Observatory |
| Designated | 10 January 1950 |
| Reference no. | 1357729 |
  Location of The King's Observatory in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames | |
The King's Observatory (called for many years theKew Observatory)[1] is a Grade Ilisted building[2] inRichmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed anastronomical andterrestrial magneticobservatory[3] founded byKing George III. The architect wasSir William Chambers; his design of the King's Observatory influenced the architecture of two Irish observatories –Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, andDunsink Observatory nearDublin.[4]
Theobservatory and its grounds are located within the grounds of theRoyal Mid-Surrey Golf Club, which is part of theOld Deer Park of the formerRichmond Palace inRichmond, historically inSurrey and now in theLondon Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The former royal manor ofKew lies to the immediate north. The observatory grounds overlie to the south the site of the formerSheen Priory, theCarthusian monastery established byKing Henry V in 1414.[5] The observatory is not publicly accessible, and obscuring woodlands mean that it cannot be viewed from outside the golf course, which is not open to the general public. The observatory is sometimes open to the public.[6]
Co-Observer
The observatory was completed in 1769,[8] in time for King George III's observation of thetransit of Venus that occurred on 3 June in that year. It was located close toRichmond Lodge,[9] the country residence of the royal family between 1764 and 1771.[10]
In 1842, the by then empty building was taken on by theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science and became widely known as the Kew Observatory.[11][12]Francis Ronalds was the inaugural Honorary Director for the next decade and founded the observatory's enduring reputation.
Responsibility for the facility was transferred to theRoyal Society in 1871. TheNational Physical Laboratory was established there in 1900 and from 1910 it housed theMeteorological Office. The Met Office closed the observatory in 1980. The geomagnetic instruments had already been relocated toEskdalemuir Observatory inDumfries and Galloway, Scotland in 1908 after the advent of electrification in London led to interference with their operations.[13]
A contemporary report byStephen Demainbray, the superintendent of the observatory, says: "His Majesty the King who made his observation with aShorts reflecting telescope, magnifying Diameters 170 Times, was the first to view the Penumbra of Venus touching the Edge of the Sun's Disk. The exact mean time (according to civil Reckoning) was attended to by Stephen Demainbray, appointed to take exact time by Shelton's Regulator, previously regulated by several astronomical observations."[14]
Francis Ronalds invented many meteorological, magnetic and electrical instruments at Kew, which saw long-term use around the world. These included the first successfulcameras in 1845 to record the variations of parameters such asatmospheric pressure, temperature,humidity,atmospheric electricity andgeomagnetism through the day and night.[15] His photo-barograph was used byRobert Fitzroy from 1862 in making the UK's first officialweather forecasts at theMeteorological Office. The network of observing stations set-up in 1867 by the Met Office to assist in understanding the weather was equipped with his cameras – some of these remained in use at Kew until the observatory's closure in 1980.[16]
Ronalds also established a sophisticatedatmospheric electricity observing system at Kew with a long copper rod protruding through the dome of the observatory and a suite of novelelectrometers andelectrographs to manually record the data. He supplied this equipment to facilities in England, Spain, France, Italy, India (Colaba andTrivandrum) and theArctic with the goal of delineating atmospheric electricity on a global scale.[17] At Kew, two-hourly data was recorded in the Reports of the British Association between 1844 and 1847.
An entirely new system, providing continuous automatic recording, was installed byLord Kelvin personally in the early 1860s. This device, based on Kelvin's water dropper potential equaliser with photographic recording,[18] was known as the Kew electrograph. It provided the backbone of a long and almost continuous series of potential gradient measurements which finished in 1980. A secondary system of measurement, operating on different principles, was designed and implemented by the Nobel laureateCTR Wilson, from which records begin in 1906 until the closure of the Observatory.[19] These measurements, which complement those of the Kelvin electrograph, were made on fine days at 1500 GMT. Beyond their applications in atmospheric electricity, the electrograph and Wilson apparatus have been shown to be useful for reconstructing past air pollution changes.[20]
In the early 1850s, the facility began performing a role in assessing and ratingbarometers,thermometers,chronometers, watches,sextants and other scientific instruments for accuracy; this duty was transferred to theNational Physical Laboratory in 1910. An instrument which passed the tests was awarded a "Kew Certificate", a hallmark of excellence.[21]
Asmarine navigation adopted the use of mechanical timepieces, their accuracy became more important. The need for precision resulted in the development of a testing regime involving various astronomical observatories. In Europe,Neuchâtel Observatory,Geneva Observatory,Besançon Astronomical Observatory and Kew were examples of prominent observatories that tested timepiece movements for accuracy. The testing process lasted for many days, typically 45. Each movement was tested in five positions and two temperatures, in ten series of four or five days each. The tolerances for error were much finer than any other standard, including the modernCOSC standard. Movements that passed the stringent tests were issued a certification from the observatory called a Bulletin de Marche, signed by the directeur of the observatory. The Bulletin de Marche stated the testing criteria and the actual performance of the movement. A movement with a Bulletin de Marche from an observatory became known as anObservatory Chronometer, and was issued a chronometer reference number by the observatory.
The role of the observatories in assessing the accuracy of mechanical timepieces was instrumental in driving the mechanical watchmaking industry toward higher and higher levels of accuracy. As a result, modern high quality mechanical watch movements have an extremely high degree of accuracy. However, no mechanical movement could ultimately compare to the accuracy of aquartz movement. Accordingly, such chronometer certification ceased in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the advent of the quartz watch movement.
In 1981 the facility was returned to theCrown Estate Commissioners and reverted to its original name, "King’s Observatory". In 1985 the observatory was refurbished and transformed into commercial offices; new brick buildings were added. From 1986 to 2011 it was used by Autoglass (nowBelron) as their UK head office.[22] Since 1989 the lease has been held by Robbie Brothers of Kew Holdings Limited.[22] In 2014Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council granted planning permission for the observatory to be used as a private single family dwelling.[23]
In 1999, landscape architect Kim Wilkie was commissioned to prepare a master plan linking the observatory's Grade I landscape toKew Gardens,Syon Park andRichmond. These proposals were accepted by Kew Holdings Limited. The basement and first floors are now family rooms, bedrooms and kitchen. The two octagon rooms retain their original cabinets. The entrance octagon room originally would have housed George III's scientific instruments but displays the owners collection of Japanese ceramics and has an upper gallery installed by the Met Office with an Art Deco balustrade. The library octagon retains the octagonal Autoglass board table with a model of the site before restoration. The two side rooms have lost original features apart from their windows. The lounge has been restored as a Georgian room with two large portraits of George III and Queen Charlotte and a decorated modern carving of his coat of arms. The dining room is decorated with modern, hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, based on the 1772 painting commissioned by Alexander Hume, now in theHong Kong Maritime Museum.[24] The grounds have also been restored and are now surrounded by aha-ha with a pond, all auxiliary buildings have been demolished apart from two old 'Magnetic huts' dating from the time of the NPL.
TheAshmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology inOxford has a portrait,Peter Rigaud and Mary Anne Rigaud, by the 18th-century painterJohn Francis Rigaud. His portrait of his nephew and niece, exhibited at theRoyal Academy in 1778, showsStephen Peter Rigaud (1774–1839) (who became a mathematical historian and astronomer, andSavilian Chair of Geometry andSavilian Professor of Astronomy at theUniversity of Oxford) and his elder sister. The picture, painted when they were aged four and seven, shows them in a park landscape with the observatory (where their father was observer) in the background.[25] Although described here asRichmond Park,topographical considerations make it more likely that the park portrayed is Old Deer Park, where the observatory is situated.
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