View source for Radcliffe Observatory

{{short description|Observatory in Oxford, England}}
{{for|the Radcliffe 18/24-inch Double Refractor telescope in London|University of London Observatory}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox building
|name                = Radcliffe Observatory
|former_names        = 
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|image               = Radcliffe Observatory Oxford 2023 02.jpg
|caption             = South front of the observatory
|map_type            = Oxford (central)
|altitude            = 
|building_type       = Former [[observatory]]
|architectural_style = [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]]
|structural_system   = 
|cost                = 
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|location            = [[Woodstock Road (Oxford)|Woodstock Road]], [[Oxford]]
|owner               = [[Green Templeton College, Oxford|Green Templeton College]]
|coordinates         = {{coord|51.7608|-1.2639|display=inline,title}}
|start_date          = {{Start date and age|1772}}
|completion_date     = {{Start date and age|1794}}
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|architect           = [[Henry Keene (architect)|Henry Keene]] and [[James Wyatt]]
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|designations        = [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Listed Grade I]]
}}

'''Radcliffe Observatory''' was the [[astronomical observatory]] of the [[University of Oxford]] from 1773 until 1934, when the Radcliffe Trustees sold it and built a new observatory in [[Pretoria]], South Africa.<ref name="hibbert">{{cite book | title=[[The Encyclopaedia of Oxford]] | publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] | chapter=Radcliffe Observatory | year=1988 | pages=353–354 | isbn=0-333-39917-X | editor-last=Hibbert |editor-first=Christopher |editor-link=Christopher Hibbert }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| title=Radcliffe Observatory, Pretoria |journal=Nature |volume=142|issue=3592 |year=1938| pages=424–425| issn=0028-0836| doi=10.1038/142424c0|bibcode=1938Natur.142S.424.|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed building]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1047070 |desc=The Nuffield Institute for Medical Research the Radcliffe Observatory |accessdate=17 December 2014}}</ref> Today, the building forms part of [[Green Templeton College, Oxford|Green Templeton College]] of the University of Oxford.

==History==
[[File:Top of Radcliffe Observatory, Green Templeton College, Oxford.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Statue of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] on top of the observatory]]
The observatory was founded and named after the physician [[John Radcliffe (physician)|John Radcliffe]] (1650–1714) by the Radcliffe Trustees.<ref name=GTC>{{cite web |url= http://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/about-gtc/history-and-architecture/the-radcliffe-observatory.html |title=The Radcliffe Observatory |publisher=Green Templeton College }}</ref> It was built on the suggestion of the astronomer [[Thomas Hornsby]], who was occupying the [[Savilian Chair of Astronomy]], following his observation of the notable [[transit of Venus]] across the sun's disc in 1769 from a room in the nearby [[Radcliffe Infirmary]].

The observatory building, at a site on [[Woodstock Road, Oxford|Woodstock Road]], commenced to designs by [[Henry Keene (architect)|Henry Keene]] in 1772 and was completed in 1794 to the designs of [[James Wyatt]]. It has a prominent octagonal [[Tower of the Winds (Oxford)|tower]] based on the [[Tower of the Winds]] in [[Athens]], topped with a statue by [[John Bacon (sculptor, born 1740)|John Bacon]] of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] holding up the World.

Until 1839, the Savilian Chair of Astronomy was responsible for the observatory. At this date the appointment of [[George Henry Sacheverell Johnson]] – an astronomer with no observational experience – caused the creation of the new role of Radcliffe Observer.

{{anchor|Pretoria}}Because of the viewing conditions, weather, urban development and light pollution at [[Oxford]], the observatory was moved to South Africa in 1939. Eventually that site, in [[Pretoria]], also became untenable and the facility was combined with others into the [[South African Astronomical Observatory]] (SAAO) in the 1970s.

The building is now used by [[Green Templeton College, Oxford|Green Templeton College]] and is a centrepiece of  the college.<ref name=GTC/> The original instruments are now in the [[Museum of the History of Science, Oxford]], except for the Radcliffe 18/24-inch Twin Refractor telescope, which was transferred to the [[University of London Observatory]].

[[File:Radcliffe telescope, University of London Observatory.jpg|thumb|left|The Radcliffe 18/24 inch twin refractor telescope was moved to the [[University of London Observatory]] when the Radcliffe Observatory closed.]]

==Radcliffe Observers==
The following have been Radcliffe Observers:{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

* 1839 [[Manuel John Johnson]]
* 1860 [[Robert Main]]
* 1879 [[Edward James Stone]]
* 1897 [[Arthur Alcock Rambaut]]
* 1924 [[Harold Knox-Shaw]]
* 1950 [[David Thackeray]]

{{clear}}

==Gallery==
[[File:Green Templeton College in Snow 2009.JPG|thumb|center|900px|Panoramic view of the observatory in the snow]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Oxfordshire}}
* [[Observatory Street]] to the north
* [[Radcliffe Observatory Quarter]], a local development project

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=1974 |title=Oxfordshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |pages=271–272 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Tyack |first=Geoffrey |title=Oxford An Architectural Guide |date=1998 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |place=Oxford & New York |isbn=0-19-817423-3 |pages=183–185}}
*{{cite journal|first=Geoffrey |last=Tyack|title=The making of the Radcliffe Observatory|journal=The Georgian Group Journal|volume=X |date=2000|url=https://georgiangroup.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/GGJ_2000_10_TYACK.pdf }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Radcliffe Observatory}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1772 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Astronomical observatories in England]]
[[Category:Astronomical observatories in South Africa]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Departments of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Oxford]]
[[Category:Grade I listed scientific buildings]]
[[Category:Green Templeton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1794]]
[[Category:Towers completed in 1794]]
[[Category:Towers in Oxford]]
[[Category:James Wyatt buildings]]
[[Category:Defunct astronomical observatories]]
[[Category:University and college astronomical observatories]]