Stonyhurst Observatory

Tucked into the grounds of Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England, Stonyhurst Observatory has been watching the sky and the weather since the nineteenth century. Its current building dates to 1866, but the site's scientific work goes back even further.

About Stonyhurst Observatory

Stonyhurst Observatory is a working observatory and weather station on the campus of Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit school in Lancashire. Long before amateur astronomy became a hobby for enthusiasts elsewhere, the college's priests and teachers were running a serious scientific programme here, covering astronomy, geomagnetism and seismology alongside daily weather observation.

History

The observatory's earliest building went up in 1838; it still stands today, repurposed as the college's Typographia Collegii. The observatory itself was rebuilt in 1866, and its telescope, a Victorian instrument with parts dating to the 1860s, served the site for generations. After the Second World War the telescope was sold to a private owner, but Stonyhurst later bought it back and restored it to its original home.

Perhaps the observatory's most remarkable legacy is its weather record. Daily temperature readings began in 1846 and have continued, almost without a break, ever since, one of the longest continuous series anywhere in the world, behind only the Old Stockholm Observatory's records dating to 1756. In 2004 Stonyhurst replaced Ringway as one of four stations the UK Met Office uses to calculate the Central England Temperature (CET) series.

Telescopes & research

Today the observatory is run by Fintan O'Reilly, a Classics master at the college who also teaches GCSE astronomy, keeping alive a tradition of teacher-scientists that stretches back to the observatory's Jesuit founders. Its role has shifted over time from active astronomical research toward meteorology and public education, though the restored 1860s telescope remains a link to its original purpose.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits within the historic Stonyhurst College campus in Lancashire, in the north west of England. The wider Ribble Valley setting is rural and often clear of city light pollution, though the observatory itself is part of a working school rather than a public astronomical park.

Visiting Stonyhurst Observatory

Stonyhurst Observatory is part of an active school campus, so access is limited. The college occasionally opens it to visitors, and anyone hoping to see inside should check with Stonyhurst College directly before planning a trip.

See your named star from here

Every star named through Star Register comes with precise coordinates, so any observatory able to point a telescope at the sky can, in principle, find it. If you'd like to give a star its own name, explore our naming packages, or browse the star catalogue to see stars already named by others.