The City Observatory was an astronomical observatory on

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, Scotland. It is also known as the Calton Hill Observatory. The site is enclosed by a boundary wall with a monument to

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

, president of the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, in the southeast corner. The oldest part is the Gothic Tower in the southwest corner, facing Princes Street and Edinburgh Castle. It is also known as Observatory House, the Old Observatory, or after its designer James Craig House. The central building with the appearance of a Greek temple is the Playfair Building, named after the building's designer

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

. This houses the 6-inch (15 cm)

refractor A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and a ...

in its dome and the 6.4-inch (16 cm)

transit telescope In astronomy, a transit instrument is a small telescope with extremely precisely graduated mount used for the precise observation of star positions. They were previously widely used in astronomical observatories and naval observatories to meas ...

in its eastern wing. The largest dome of the site is the City Dome in the northeast corner. During the early 20th century this contained a 22-inch (56 cm) refractor. In 2018, the entire site was restored and new buildings were added. The City Observatory site was opened freely to the public for the first time on 24 November 2018 a
Collective
a centre for contemporary art.

History

Thomas Short's observatory

In 1776 Thomas Short returned to

, bringing with him a 12-foot (3.7 m, focal length)

reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...

made by his late brother James Short. He intended to open a public observatory on

as a commercial enterprise. However, in 1736

Colin Maclaurin Colin Maclaurin (; gd, Cailean MacLabhruinn; February 1698 – 14 June 1746) was a Scottish mathematician who made important contributions to geometry and algebra. He is also known for being a child prodigy and holding the record for bei ...

, professor of mathematics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, had collected funds for a university observatory. Due to the

Porteous Riots The Porteous Riots surrounded the activities of Captain John Porteous (c. 1695 – 1736), Captain of the City Guard of Edinburgh, Scotland, who was lynched by a mob for his part in the killing of innocent civilians while ordering the men ...

and the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

the funds were left unused. These were made available to build Short's observatory; and the City of Edinburgh provided a plot of land on Calton Hill. The observatory was to be open to university students. James Craig designed the observatory, which, under

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

's influence, was to look like a fortification with a wall and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

towers at its corners. The city controlled the building project, but the money ran out after only the first of the towers was built. Short moved into this as residence and ran the observatory until his death in 1788. An actual observatory, smaller than originally planned, was also built where the Playfair Building is now. After Short's death the observatory was kept going by his family for a while, then leased to opticians and finally abandoned around 1807. The site reverted to the city. Short's daughter

Maria Theresa Short Maria Theresa Short (died 15 January 1869) was a Scottish entrepreneur who increased public access to scientific equipment in Edinburgh in the 19th century. She was born and died in Edinburgh. The Short Family In the early 18th century, the ...

was to return to Edinburgh in 1827. She ran a second – a popular and commercial rather than scientific – observatory elsewhere on Calton Hill. In 1850 this was removed and she moved to Castle Hill, where her enterprise eventually became today's

Camera Obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...

on the Royal Mile.

The Royal Observatory

Gothic Tower - City Observatory of Edinburgh - 05

In 1812 the observatory was handed over to the Edinburgh Astronomical Institution, which opened its popular observatory in the Gothic Tower. In 1818 work began on the Playfair Building. Designed by

this was to become the scientific observatory of the Institution. Following a loyal address to

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in 1822 this became the Royal Observatory. Again the funds proved insufficient, so that the purchase of

instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...

and the employment of an observer depended on funding from the Government. After much delay the instrumentation was completed in 1831 with delivery of the

. Fraunhofer had made the lens, but after his death it fell to Repsold – and after his death to Repsold's son – to complete and install the instrument. In 1834 Thomas Henderson took up the position of observer. This was now the post of Astronomer Royal for Scotland and Regius Professor of Astronomy in the

. Until his death in 1844 he worked on Calton Hill. In 1839 he published his results regarding the distance of alpha Centauri based on observations he had made 1832/33 at the

Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, is the oldest continuously existing scientific institution in South Africa. Founded by the British Board of Longitude in 1820, it now forms the headquarters building of the South African Astronomical Obs ...

. In 1846

Charles Piazzi Smyth Charles Piazzi Smyth (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900) was an Italian-born British astronomer who was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888; he is known for many innovations in astronomy and, along with his wife Jessica Duncan P ...

became second Astronomer Royal for Scotland and set about reducing and publishing the backlog of Henderson's observations. In 1847 the Astronomical Institution – having run out of money – handed the Royal Observatory over to the Government. Calton Hill Playfair Building 1824

According to the English journalist

William Jerdan William Jerdan FSA (16 April 1782 – 11 July 1869), Scottish journalist, was born at Kelso, Scotland. During the years between 1799 and 1806, he spent short periods in a country lawyer's office, a London West India merchant's counting hou ...

, naturalist and oceanographer

Edward Forbes Edward Forbes FRS, FGS (12 February 1815 – 18 November 1854) was a Manx naturalist. In 1846, he proposed that the distributions of montane plants and animals had been compressed downslope, and some oceanic islands connected to the mainlan ...

, F.R.S. and his "The Red Lions", a dining club for younger members of the British Association, (named after the tavern where the first meeting was held), had occasion to run up to the observatory of Calton Hill for astronomical studies. The main purpose of the observatory was a time service. The transits of stars through the

meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

were observed and used to keep the observatory

clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...

, a sidereal clock manufactured by Robert Bryson,

accurate Accuracy and precision are two measures of '' observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements ( observations or readings) are to their ''true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each ot ...

. Accurate time was important for

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

, and mariners would bring ships' chronometers from the port of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

up to Calton Hill for adjustment. In 1854 the

time ball A time ball or timeball is a time-signalling device. It consists of a large, painted wooden or metal ball that is dropped at a predetermined time, principally to enable navigators aboard ships offshore to verify the setting of their marine chron ...

was installed on Nelson's Monument next to the observatory and visible from the port. This was controlled by electrical pulses from the observatory clock. A few years later the

One O'Clock Gun Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on t ...

on Edinburgh Castle was added. This was also controlled through an electrical wire, spanning the city from Calton Hill to the Castle. Today the time ball and One O' Clock Gun are tourist attractions. They are no longer controlled from a state of the art clock, but are triggered "by hand". By 1888, when Smyth resigned, through underfunding the observatory's equipment had become largely obsolete. Also, the site had originally not been chosen through scientific investigation and its proximity to the city was causing problems. In 1896 the Royal Observatory moved to a new site on

Blackford Hill Blackford Hill is a hill in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is in the area of Blackford, between Morningside, and the Braid Hills. Together with the Hermitage of Braid, it comprises the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill Loca ...

. The Calton Hill Observatory, once again, reverted to the City of Edinburgh.

The City Observatory

In the wake of the Royal Observatory moving to Blackford Hill, a new City Observatory was created on Calton Hill toward the end of the 19th century. The 6-inch (15 cm) Cooke refractor was donated by

William McEwan William McEwan () (16 July 1827 – 12 May 1913) was a Scottish politician and brewer. He founded the Fountain Brewery in 1856, served as a member of parliament (MP) from 1886 to 1900, and funded the construction of the McEwan Hall at the Univ ...

and installed in the dome on the Playfair Building. Additional domes were built for a 13-inch (33 cm) reflector donated by Robert Cox and for a 13-inch (33 cm) refractor transferred from the

Dunecht Dunecht ( gd, Dùn Eicht) is a slightly linear village on the A944 road in north-east Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is not to be confused with Echt. Dunecht is located 12 miles (19.5 km) west of the city of Aberdeen and is situated by ...

observatory near Aberdeen. Only remnants of these two domes remain today. The City Dome was built to house a 22-inch (56 cm) refractor. This did not perform very well and was dismantled in 1926. The dome remained and was used as a lecture theatre. The observatory opened in 1898 with William Peck as City Astronomer. Peck had previously been observer at Cox's observatory in Murrayfield . After Peck's death in 1925 his assistant John McDougal Field continued to run the City Observatory. In 1924 the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh was formed with Field as first president. Peck and

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

, the then Astronomer Royal for Scotland, were honorary presidents. Field died in 1937; and in 1938 the observatory was leased to the Society, which ran the City Observatory until vandalism and theft of roofing material rendered the site unusable in 2009. Collective 2019

Collective

In 2009 the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh moved out of the City Observatory and the buildings reverted to the City of Edinburgh Council.Little, Frank; Williams, David; Gray, Kate (February 2014) "Calton Hill Newsletter" issued by the City of Edinburgh Council and Collective, Edition 3 The Council renovated Observatory House and the interior was restored by the Vivat Trust (a charity which aims to preserve old buildings) who let it as holiday accommodation. However Vivat went into liquidation in 2015. After being unoccupied for several years, in 2012 the Council started a programme to renovate the remaining buildings in partnership with visual arts charity Collective in a scheme designed by architectural firm Collective Architecture. In 2014, Collective relocated from their gallery in

Cockburn Street, Edinburgh Cockburn Street is a picturesque street in Edinburgh's Old Town, created as a serpentine link from the High Street to Waverley Station in 1856. It is named after the then recently-deceased Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure Henry, Lo ...

, opened an exhibition in the City Dome and received an award of £900,000 from

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

to further develop the site.(29 January 2014
Calton Hill observatory set for new galleries
The Edinburgh Evening News, Retrieved 28 February 2014 After a £4.5 million development, in 2018 Collective re-opened the City Observatory site a
Collective
a contemporary art centre an
restaurant
New exhibition space the Hillside shows art by artists in Scotland who have never previously shown their work in a major exhibition while the restored City Dome is host to works by international artists. William Playfair's Observatory has been restored according to his surviving plans and the original

Transit instrument In astronomy, a transit instrument is a small telescope with extremely precisely graduated mount used for the precise observation of star positions. They were previously widely used in astronomical observatories and naval observatories to measu ...

is now on public display. Observatory House was given a £400,000 renovation in 2021 and was offered for short term lets by Collective.

References

* Gavine, D. (1981). ''Astronomy in Scotland 1745–1900''. PhD thesis. Open University. * Brück, H.A. (1983). ''The story of astronomy in Edinburgh from its beginnings until 1975''. Edinburgh University Press. . * Gavine, D. (1981–1985). "The Calton Hill observatories". ''ASE Journal'', 4-11. Astronomical Society of Edinburgh.

History

Thomas Short's observatory

The Royal Observatory

The City Observatory

Collective

See also

Other public observatories

References

Further reading