WHAT SHOULD AN OBSERVATORY LOOK LIKE? THE CASE OF THE RADCLIFFE OBSERVATORY, OXFORD

This paper argues that the design of the Radcliffe Observatory (1771–1798) was based on one form of Palladian country house which had become popular in the eighteenth century. The Savilian Professor of Astronomy, University of Oxford, Thomas Hornsby, had modest initial requirements for an observatory. But these initial requirements expanded into a building that memorialised John Radcliffe and the Radcliffe Trust (who funded the building) and provided considerable unasked for space for pomp and show for the University and Trustees. The tightly balanced Neo-Classical building that resulted is sometimes seen as an example of form following function, but it caused several problems for the astronomer, which could have been avoided if a simpler and less ostentatious building had been constructed.