The Durham University Observatory is a weather observatory owned and operated by the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

. 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 phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxi ...

and meteorological observatory (owing to the need to calculate

refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one 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 commonly observed phenome ...

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. Chevall ...

, until 1937 when the observatory moved purely to meteorological recording. The observatory's current director is Professor Tim Burt of the Geography Department, who is also Master of Hatfield College. 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 ...

, Durham has the longest unbroken meteorological record of any University in the UK, with records dating back to the 1840s, principally due to the work of

Gordon Manley Gordon Valentine Manley, FRGS (3 January 1902 – 29 January 1980) was a British climatologist who has been described as "probably the best known, most prolific and most expert on the climate of Britain of his generation". He assembled the Centra ...

in creating a temperature record that would be comparable to Oxford's. The Observatory's History At present the observatory contributes to the Met Office's forecasts by providing automated records.

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

Richard Carrington Richard Christopher Carrington (26 May 1826 – 27 November 1875) was an English amateur astronomy, amateur astronomer whose 1859 astronomical observations demonstrated the existence of solar flares as well as suggesting their electrical influ ...

*1852 – 1853 William Ellis *1854 – 1855 Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Rümker *1856 – 1863

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

*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 – 1990 A. Warner

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