Coats Observatory is Scotland's oldest

public observatory A public observatory is an astronomical observatory mainly dedicated to public and educational purposes. It is often supported by a municipality, a school or an astronomical society. The primary purpose of public observatories is to offer exte ...

. It is currently closed for refurbishment as part of a 4-year long £42m transformation of the observatory and museum buildings. Located in Oakshaw Street West,

Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...

, the observatory has been operational since 1 October 1883 and continues to function to this day, offering visitors the opportunity to view the night sky through the powerful telescopes housed within the building. The observatory is currently closed for redevelopment and is due to reopen in 2023.

History

Foundation of Coats Observatory

The idea to create an observatory in Paisley came from the annual general meeting of the Paisley Philosophical Institution (PPI) held in 1880. The PPI was founded on 13 October 1808, having its origins among the educated and professional gentlemen of the burgh, such as ministers, doctors, lawyers and bankers. These 'noble pioneers of philosophy' ardner, P5banded together with a view to improving themselves and their fellow towns-people through lectures, the collection of scientific books and by the formation of a museum, an idea first mooted in 1858 which eventually reached fruition in 1871 with the opening of the first phase of Paisley Museum. At the 1880 AGM of the PPI a proposal was made that a telescope should be purchased, to be housed in a tower which was to be built in the new extension to the museum currently under construction. This decision came about as several lectures with an astronomical theme had been given to the PPI in 1878 and 1879, including four by Robert Grant, Professor of Astronomy at the

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and one by Reverend John Crouch entitled 'The Telescope in Relation to Astronomical Observation'. The council of the institution agreed to purchase a telescope and

Thomas Coats Thomas Coats (1809–1883) was a Scottish thread manufacturer. Life Coats was born at Paisley 18 October 1809. He was the fourth of a family of ten sons. His father, James Coats, was one of the founders of the Coats Group of Paisley. In ...

, a member of the world-famous thread manufacturing family and also of the PPI council, offered to meet the costs involved. He also proposed the creation of a purpose-built observatory to be located in Oakshaw Street, to the rear of the museum complex. This street is one of the highest points in the local townscape giving an uninterrupted 360^o view over the town. The architect chosen for the project was

John Honeyman John Honeyman (1729August 18, 1822) was an American spy and British informant for George Washington, primarily responsible for spreading disinformation and gathering the intelligence crucial to Washington's victory in the Battle of Trenton. ...

. He had been responsible for the design of many houses, churches and other buildings throughout the country, including Paisley Museum, Art Galleries and Library, and he had carried out alteration work to the now-demolished University of Glasgow's observatory in 1862 and 1871, so was familiar with the design issues needed to create a fully functional observatory.

Architectural Features

Detail of Stained Glass window depicting William Herschel, Coats Observatory, Paisley

Honeyman's design incorporates a number of interesting architectural features. The building consists of a three-storey tower, reaching a height of almost 20 metres, and topped by a copper-plated domed roof, within which the telescope is housed. The dome is reached via a short flight of stairs at the beginning and end and a ramped walkway between, designed this way to limit the number of steps required to reach the top of the building and to facilitate the easier passage of equipment throughout. The entrance foyer features a large stained-glass window dedicated to the late 18th century astronomer

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel (; german: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline H ...

plus further depictions in stained glass of earlier astronomers

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws ...

and

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

. The building was designed to incorporate the use of borrowed light at every opportunity. Large windows in the exterior of the building at first floor level feed into the room at that height. The exterior of the floor above is edged with round port-hole style windows. These widen on the inside, thus projecting the light from outside into the room, taking as much advantage of natural light as possible. Stone carving work throughout the building was carried out by Glasgow sculptor James Young and decorative ironwork was made by MacFarlanes at their

Saracen Foundry The Saracen Foundry, Possilpark, Glasgow c.1890 The Saracen Foundry was the better-known name for the Possilpark, Glasgow–based foundry company W MacFarlane & Co. Ltd, founded and owned by Walter MacFarlane. MacFarlane's was the most importan ...

in Glasgow. MacFarlanes were responsible for a great deal of the surviving 19th Century wrought ironworks throughout the city and even further afield – for example their work adorns the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The total cost of building Coats Observatory was £3097, 17 shillings and sixpence.

Memorial Stone Ceremony

Work commenced on the observatory in late 1881. With the construction of the tower well underway it was decided to commemorate the new building with the laying of a memorial stone, a duty performed by Thomas Coats on 8 March 1882 at an event attended by a number of local dignitaries, including the Provost, Magistrates and Town Council and members of the PPI. The stone was accompanied by a 'time capsule' containing newspapers, small portraits of Mr & Mrs Coats and some coins of the realm. A presentation of a silver trowel was made to Thomas Coats as a memento of the day and he is recorded as saying that he hoped the observatory would "prove a stimulus to interest the rising generation of the town and neighbourhood in the study of astronomy – a science little understood among us, but which may, under the leading spirits of our Philosophical Institution, become a subject of instruction that will be eagerly sought after."

Naming of Coats Observatory

At a meeting held in Paisley Museum on 18 October 1882 Thomas Coats officially handed over the observatory and telescope to the Paisley Philosophical Institution. As well as outlining the building developments he announced the creation of an endowment fund of £2000 (1882 value) towards the upkeep and development of the observatory. This gesture saw the PPI Council meeting of January 1883 agreeing to name the place 'Coats Observatory' in Thomas Coats' honour.

Operation of Coats Observatory

A set of rules for the operation of the observatory were drawn up at this time. The building was open from 11am to 3pm and then from dusk, or 7pm whichever was earlier, until midnight daily, except Sunday. If the weather was unsuitable for observing the observatory would close at 10pm. Members of the PPI were allowed free admission on presentation of their membership cards. The general public were allowed in from the beginning of September to the end of April on a Monday, Thursday and Saturday between 7pm and 11pm. However, they had to purchase a ticket beforehand at a cost of two pence which could only be used on the day and at the hour specified, with a maximum of twenty tickets issued for each hour. If the weather did not allow for telescope viewings the ticket could be exchanged for another one offering another day and time free of charge. Friday evenings during the winter were set aside for teachers and trainee teachers within the burgh boundaries to use the telescope.

Transit House

Construction of the main observatory building was complete by May 1883, but the official opening of the building did not take place until 1 October. The delay was partly caused by the construction of a smaller building behind the observatory tower to house an astronomical clock and telescope. The building, known as Transit House, would accurately measure time by observing the movement of the stars across the meridian and setting the clock accordingly. The accuracy of the clock was such that in 1884 Paisley Town Hall clock was connected to it, as were clocks at Ferguslie Thread Works and the Liberal Club in Paisley High Street, thus providing astronomically-correct time to the citizens of Paisley.

Opening of Coats Observatory

A grand ceremony had been planned for the October opening, but unfortunately Thomas Coats' health had deteriorated considerably. His wish was to forego any formal event and so the building opened without any fanfare at all. He only managed to visit the completed building once as he died on 15 October 1883, aged 74. Coats Observatory was officially opened for business on 1 October 1883, and the first visitor to the building was Robert Grant, Professor of Astronomy at Glasgow University.

First Curator

The first curator of Coats Observatory was Donald McLean, who had been assistant to Professor Grant at Glasgow University. He was selected from a list of over 400 applicants, and he received an annual salary of £80 for his astronomical and meteorological observations. Mr. McLean had not long taken up the post when he was involved in an accident in the observatory. The lever mechanism which opened and closed the dome broke off, injuring him in the process. The observatory was closed for six weeks whilst the damage was repaired and the curator recuperated, which he thankfully did and he continued in his role at Coats Observatory until he retired in April 1931, aged 80, after almost 50 years service.

Distinguished Visitors

Coats Observatory visitors book records the name, address and occupation of all of those who came to the building. As well as the everyday visitor there are many notable guests, such as

William Speirs Bruce William Speirs Bruce (1 August 1867 – 28 October 1921) was a British Natural history, naturalist, polar region, polar scientist and Oceanography, oceanographer who organized and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE, 1902–04) ...

, the leader of the

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–1904, was organised and led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University of Edinburgh. Although overshadowed in terms of prestige by Robe ...

from 1902 to 1904;

Howard Grubb Sir Howard Grubb (28 July 1844 – 16 September 1931) was an optical designer from Dublin, Ireland. He was head of a family firm that made large optical telescopes, telescope drive controls, and other optical instruments. He is also noted for h ...

, telescope maker; David Gill, Her Majesty's Royal astronomer at the

Cape Observatory South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is the national centre for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa. It was established in 1972. The observatory is run by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The facility's funct ...

in South Africa from 1879 to 1907;

Frank Watson Dyson Sir Frank Watson Dyson, KBE, FRS, FRSE (8 January 1868 – 25 May 1939) was an English astronomer and the ninth Astronomer Royal who is remembered today largely for introducing time signals ("pips") from Greenwich, England, and for the role ...

, Astronomer Royal of England from 1910 to 1933; and

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

, one of the founders of the Labour Party.

Expansion of the Observatory

After Thomas Coats' death his son James took over the family involvement in the Observatory, increasing the endowment and purchasing a number of pieces of scientific equipment for use in the building. The addition of all of this equipment made it necessary to provide more accommodation. A pavilion was built behind the main observatory building, which was opened by

Lord Balfour of Burleigh Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in the County of Kinross, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1607 for Sir Michael Balfour. He was succeeded by his daughter, Margaret, his only child. She married Robert Arnot, who assumed the su ...

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

, on 14 September 1898. After being given a tour of the buildings and the equipment he is noted as 'expressing his gratitude for what he had seen and congratulating the citizens of Paisley on the opportunities which they possessed for the study of Astronomy'.

Early 20th Century

Throughout the early years of the 20th century the observatory continued to operate as it had done, with visits by schools, other groups and members of the public, astronomical society meetings and daily weather recordings. Shortly after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the fortunes of Coats Observatory began to decline. Visitor activity was curtailed. Lectures were not given due to the absence of street lighting, brought about by the Lighting Order of 1916 introduced due to the fear of

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

bombing raids. The post-war drop in the value of currency saw the value of the endowment left by the Coats family decrease. Consequently, maintenance of the building and equipment was not carried out, leading to a state of neglect and decline which saw the telescope out of action for almost a year. This was remedied in 1924, when the telescopes were given a major overhaul and repairs carried out to the building, although a setback occurred in April 1925 when the adjoining building, housing the Paisley Photographic Society meeting rooms, went on fire, causing damage to the weather recording instruments housed there After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the value of the endowment decreased further and the running costs for the Observatory had to be partly met by the income from the winter lecture series of the PPI. The final financial crisis came about in 1957, with the retiral of Mr. John Woodrow, who had been acting as curator since 1931. His salary had remained at its pre-war figure and it became impossible to increase it to attract a successor. Adequate funds for maintenance and repairs to the building were also hard to find. The original deed of gift drawn up by Thomas Coats contained a proviso that if ever the Philosophical Institution should find itself unable to continue to pay for the upkeep of the Observatory it should be offered to Paisley Town Council, as the local authority was then.

1963 to Present Day

In 1963 management was transferred to the Town Council and the observatory placed under the charge of the Museum and Art Galleries Committee. Repairs and decoration of the building were undertaken and the telescope given an overhaul. An Observatory Technician was appointed and the building was opened once a week for visits by the general public. 1983 saw the centenary of the observatory, and a commemorative medallion was struck to mark the occasion. The observatory was also opened daily during the winter months to allow visitors the opportunity of looking at the night sky through the telescope. In 1996 the original dome was replaced with a new one, built to original specifications and using original materials. The observatory was closed and the new dome hoisted into position by a large crane. Coats Observatory is currently closed as part of the
Paisley Museum Re-imagined
project, which will transform the museum into a re-imagined home for the area's outstanding art, science and natural history collections, and is scheduled to reopen in late 2022.

Telescopes

The original telescope installed in 1883 was a 5-inch refractor made by Thomas Cooke of York. In 1898 a second, larger telescope was installed to operate alongside the original Cooke one. This was a 10-inch

Equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to: *Earth's equator **the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region **tropical climate *the Celestial equator ** equatorial orbit **equatorial coordinate system ** equatorial mount, of telescopes * equatorial ...

built by Howard Grubb of Dublin. Both telescopes are still operational and used during the winter viewing nights.

Planetarium

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

projector was installed in 1994, providing a view of the night sky as it would appear above Paisley on a clear night. The constellations and the position of the planets could be projected on to the roof, giving the illusion of being outdoors observing the movement of the stars. This projector was replaced in 2012 with a digital one which projects the night sky in even greater detail.

Scientific Apparatus

Coats Observatory was furnished with a wide range of scientific apparatus for observing the night sky and making

meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

records. In 1900 seismic monitoring equipment was installed for recording

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s. Coats Observatory was one of the stations across the world which recorded the 1906

San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

. Apart from the two original telescopes the rest of the equipment now makes up the science collections held by Paisley Museum. The collection includes equipment from the leading manufacturers of the day such as

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

s by

Troughton & Simms Troughton & Simms was a British scientific instrument firm. It was formed when Edward Troughton in his old age took on William Simms as a partner in 1826. It became a limited company in 1915 and in 1922 it merged with T. Cooke & Sons to form ...

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

s by R&J Beck,

spectroscope An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

s by Adam Hilger and Howard Grubb and

seismometer A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground noises and shaking such as caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The outpu ...

s by R.W. Munro.

Weather Recording

Thomas Coats had meticulously recorded the weather at his home of Ferguslie House in Paisley since 1858 and gifted the observatory a

barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...

and

thermometer A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a merc ...

prior to its opening. Additional equipment was added to keep weather records, which were regularly sent to the

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelope E ...

in Edinburgh. Weather recording is one function which has carried on at Coats Observatory uninterrupted since 1884 and all the weather logs are stored at the observatory and can be viewed on request. In 2011 an automated weather station was introduced, which takes observations every thirty minutes as opposed to once a day as was previously done.

Images taken through Coats Observatory Telescopes

File:Full Moon Through Cooke Telescope.jpg, Full Moon taken through the 5-inch Cooke refractor at Coats Observatory. File:quarter-moon-through-grubb.jpg, Detail of Moon through the 10-inch Grubb telescope at Coats Observatory. File:solar-eclipse-at-coats.jpg, Solar Eclipse March 2006 taken at Coats Observatory.

Other public observatories

City Observatory, Edinburgh The City Observatory was an astronomical observatory on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is also known as the Calton Hill Observatory. The site is enclosed by a boundary wall with a monument to John Playfair, president of the Edinburgh ...

Airdrie Public Observatory Airdrie Public Observatory (55° 51’ 56” N, 3° 58’ 58” W) is a fully operational, historic astronomical observatory, which is part of the library building in the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. There are only four public ob ...

* Mills Observatory, Dundee * Scottish Dark Sky Observatory, Dalmellington