The Durham University Observatory is a weather

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

owned and operated by the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

. It is a Grade II listed building located at Potters Bank, Durham and was founded in 1839 initially as an

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

and

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

observatory (owing to the need to calculate

refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one transmission medium, medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commo ...

from the air temperature) by

Temple Chevallier Temple Chevallier FRAS (19 October 1794 in Badingham, Suffolk – 4 November 1873 in Harrow Weald) was a British clergyman, astronomer, and mathematician. Between 1847 and 1849, he made important observations regarding sunspots. Chevallie ...

, until 1937 when the observatory moved purely to meteorological recording. The observatory's current director is Professor

Tim Burt Timothy Peter Burt (born 23 December 1951) is a British geographer, academic, and academic administrator. He was Master of Hatfield College, Durham and Professor of Geography at the University of Durham between 1996 and 2017. He had previousl ...

of the Geography Department, who is also Master of

Hatfield College Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durha ...

. After the

Radcliffe Observatory 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. It is a Grade I listed building. Today, the buil ...

in Oxford (from 1772) and the

Armagh Observatory Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate. In 2018, Armagh Obs ...

(from 1795), Durham has the third longest unbroken meteorological record in the UK, with records dating back to 23 July 1843, principally due to the work of Gordon Manley in creating a temperature record that would be comparable to Oxford's. In 2022,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

published ''Durham Weather and Climate since 1841'', analysing the observatory's weather records and giving a history of the observations, as a sister volume to their ''Oxford Weather and Climate since 1767'' (2019). Observations were made manually until 1999, since when a

Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

automatic weather station has been used. The observatory is a

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...

Centennial Observing Station.

History

The university established the observatory in 1839. Funds were raised by a public appeal and the site was made available by the Dean and Chapter of

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

. The building was designed by

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

and was completed by 1841 with the telescope installed in 1842. The latitude of the observatory was determined in 1843 and its longitude in 1851, by

Richard Carrington Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 – 27 November 1875) was an English astronomer whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influence upon the Earth and its ...

. An obelisk was installed in the grounds of St Leonard's School, due north of the observatory, in 1850 to check the alignment of the telescope.

Former observers

*1840 – 1841

*1841 John Stewart Browne *1842 – 1846 Arthur Beanlands *1846 – 1849 Robert Anchor Thompson *1849 Le Jeune *1849 Robert Healey Blakey (acting) *1849 – 1852

*1852 – 1853 William Ellis *1854 – 1855

Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker (December 31, 1832 – March 3, 1900) was a German astronomer. Biography Born at Hamburg, Georg Rümker was the son of Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker. He was astronomer at the observatory at Durham, England, from 1 ...

*1856 – 1863

Albert Marth Albert Marth (5 May 1828 – 6 August 1897) was a German astronomer who worked in United Kingdom, Britain and Ireland. Life After studying theology at the University of Berlin, his interest in astronomy and mathematics led him to study astro ...

*1863 – 1864 Edward Gleadowe Marshall *1865 – 1867 Mondeford Reginald Dolman *1867 – 1874 John Isaac Plummer *1874 – 1885 Gabriel Alphonsus Goldney *1885 – 1900 Henry James Carpenter *1900 – 1919 Frederick Charles Hampshire Carpenter *1919 – 1938 Frank Sargent *1938 – 1939 E. Gluckauf *1940 – 1945 A. Beecroft *1945 – 1948 L. S. Joyce *1949 – 1951 K. F. and G. A. Chackett *1951 – 1957 J. Musgrave *1957 – 1968 F. and D. Glockling *1969 – 1999 Audrey L. Warner

Weather records

References

External links

Archived Observatory Homepage

Current Observatory Homepage

News Article on rising temperatures at Durham

Observatory, Potters Bank, Durham; Listed building (Durham City)

{{Authority control Buildings and structures of Durham University Astronomical observatories in England 1839 establishments in England Meteorological observatories Anthony Salvin buildings University and college astronomical observatories