Greenwich Park’s Magnetic Observatory
The Royal Observatory at Greenwich is famous around the world – but did you know that Greenwich Park was once home to a second observatory?
The Magnetic Observatory was built in the 19th Century and situated in the south-east corner of the park, close to the site of the Roman Temple.
What was the Magnetic Observatory?
The purpose of the Magnetic Observatory was to house scientific instruments at a ‘magnetically neutral site’. This meant that the precise measurements taken by scientists would be not affected by any objects or activities in the vicinity. From 1817, magnetic observations had been taken at the ‘main’ observatory site, but the iron in nearby telescopes and buildings had started to interfere with scientific readings.
In the 1890s, therefore, a new site was found for magnetic observations – in a quieter part of the park, on the other side of Blackheath Avenue.
The Magnetic Observatory remained here until the 1920s, when the development of railways in the area again began interfering with scientific readings. The Magnetic Observatory was then relocated to Abinger Bottom in Surrey.
With the magnetic observatory redundant, a host of new buildings were constructed on the site. These included a Magnetograph House that became a Meteorological Recording building, the Yapp Telescope dome (the focus of our dig), a Reversible Transit Circle Pavilion and the New Cookson Pavilion. These housed instruments for which there was no room on the main observatory site until 1959, when they were demolished. The land was returned to the park and the site has not been investigated since!
Community archaeology project
An exciting community archaeology project in May 2022 explored what remains of this intriguing site. We invited local community groups to take part in several projects led by Community Archaeologist, Andrew Mayfield.
The project was being delivered through Greenwich Park Revealed – an £8 million, four-year project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Community Fund to reveal, restore, protect and share its unique heritage - now, and for future generations.