Clarendon Laboratory - Townsend Building, Oxford

Clarendon Laboratory - Lindemann Building, Oxford

Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford

The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England (not to be confused with the

Clarendon Building Clarendon Building is an early 18th-century neoclassical building of the University of Oxford. It is in Broad Street, Oxford, England, next to the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theatre and near the centre of the city. It was built betwee ...

, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. It houses the atomic and laser physics,

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

, and biophysics groups within the Department, although four other Oxford Physics groups are not based in the Clarendon Lab. The Oxford

Centre for Quantum Computation The Centre for Quantum Computation (CQC) is an alliance of quantum information research groups at the University of Oxford. It was founded by Artur Ekert in 1998. Until recently, the CQC also included research groups at the University of Cambrid ...

is also housed in the laboratory.

Buildings

The Clarendon Laboratory consists of two adjoining buildings, the Lindemann Building (named after

Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...

) and the

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Townsend Building (named after Sir John Sealy Townsend). The

Beecroft Building The Beecroft Building is one of the buildings forming part of the Department of Physics, University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The Beecroft Building is immediately in front of the Lindemann Building and close to the Clarendon Laboratory Tow ...

(named after Adrian Beecroft) is now immediately in front of the Lindemann Building, completed in 2018 and designed by

Hawkins\Brown Hawkins\Brown Architects LLP is an architectural practice with studios in London and Manchester. History Roger Hawkins and Russell Brown set up Hawkins\Brown in 1988. In recent years Hawkins\Brown has won and been shortlisted for awards includ ...

, with a budget of approximately £40 million.

History

The Clarendon is named after

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II from ...

, whose trustees paid £10,000 for the building of the original laboratory, completed in 1872, making it the oldest purpose-built physics laboratory in England. The building was designed by

Robert Bellamy Clifton Robert Bellamy Clifton Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 March 1836 – 21 February 1921) was a British scientist. Academic career Clifton was educated at University College, London and St John's College, Cambridge where he studied under Sir ...

. The brothers Fritz and Heinz London developed the

London equations The London equations, developed by brothers Fritz and Heinz London in 1935, are constitutive relations for a superconductor relating its superconducting current to electromagnetic fields in and around it. Whereas Ohm's law is the simplest const ...

when working there in 1935. In 2007, the laboratory was granted chemical landmark status. The award was bestowed due to the work carried out by

Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley (; 23 November 1887 – 10 August 1915) was an English physicist, whose contribution to the science of physics was the justification from physical laws of the previous empirical and chemical concept of the atomic num ...

in 1914.

Current use

The original building, substantially enlarged, is now part of the Oxford

Earth Science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

s Department. The Oxford Electric Bell apparatus (also known as the Clarendon Dry Pile), constructed in 1840, is located in the foyer of the Clarendon Laboratory.

References

External links

A brief history of Physics at Oxford

A longer history of Physics at Oxford
{{Authority control 1872 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1872 Buildings and structures completed in 1872 University and college laboratories in the United Kingdom Department of Physics, University of Oxford Physics laboratories Grade II listed buildings in Oxford

Buildings

History

Current use

See also

References

External links