Radcliffe Observatory

The Radcliffe Observatory was an astronomical observatory of Oxford University from 1773 to 1934 in Oxford, England, and 1934-1972 in Pretoria, South Africa.

The observatory was founded by John Radcliffe and is named after him. The building was completed to designs by Henry Keene and James Wyatt, which is modeled on the Tower of Winds in Athens, in 1794. The largest telescope in the observatory was since 1901 the Doppelrefraktor with 60 and 45 cm lens diameter. Due to the increasingly poorer viewing opportunities near the growing city of Oxford, the observatory was sold in 1934 by the Radcliffe Foundation and rebuilt in Pretoria. It was delayed by the Second World War and technical difficulties in 1948 with the Radcliffe Telescope, equipped with a reflector telescope 188 cm diameter; one of the largest telescopes of that time. However, deteriorated even there the viewing opportunities for the same reason, so that the observatory was finally pulled together with other institutions in the 1970s for the South African Astronomical Observatory near the town of Sutherland. Also the Radcliffe Telescope in 1977 relocated.

The building in Oxford continues to be used by the University, while the instruments from this period are to be seen in the Museum of the History of Science. The Doppelrefraktor was purchased by the University of London Observatory, located there since 1938 on the Mill Hill in scientific mode.