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Coats Observatory, Scotland
Coats Observatory is the first purpose-built public astronomical observatory in Scotland. Dating from 1883 the observatory houses two refracting telescopes, a 5-inch Cooke installed in 1883 and a 10-inch Grubb dating from 1898 as well as a wide range of late 19th century scientific apparatus for the study of astronomy, meteorology and seismology. The institution was funded by the Paisley-based Coats thread magnates and run by the Paisley Philosophical Institution until 1963 when ownership passed to the local authority, who have operated it ever since. Twice weekly public night-sky viewing sessions run throughout the winter months.
Description Image Gallery
Geographical position
49 Oakshaw Street West, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, PA1 2BA
Location
Latitude 55° 50‘ 44“ N , Longitude 4° 25‘ 51“W , Elevation 63 metres
General description
Fig. 1. Coats Observatory with star-trail, taken during one of the public viewing nights - Copyright John Pressly
Stained glass windows
Fig. 2a. and 2b.. Stained glass windows by Glasgow-based stained glass artist and designer Stephen Adam.
Brief inventory
The Grubb and Cooke telescopes
Fig. 3. Coats Observatory main telescopes ’Grubb’ and ’Cooke’ - Copyright John Pressly
The Cooke telescope was the original gift of Thomas Coats, whom the observatory is named after, and was installed in the building in 1883. Thomas also donated meteorology instrumentation so that weather recording, which was a passion of his that he had undertaken since 1856 at his home of Ferguslie House in Paisley, could continue at the new observatory. Other gifts included a micrometer, photometer, glass plate box-camera for taking photographs through the telescope, a transit telescope and sidereal and mean-time clocks. Unfortunately Thomas did not live long to see the observatory develop as he died on 14th October 1883, just two weeks after the observatory opened having only visited the completed building once.
The Grubb telescope was purchased in 1897 by James Coats, son of Thomas, who had taken over the financial interest of the observatory upon his father’s death. The replacement telescope was a 10-inch refractor from the workshop of Howard Grubb in Dublin, one of the most prolific astronomical instrument makers of the 19th century. When purchased this was the second-most powerful refracting telescope in Scotland, only surpassed by the 15-inch telescope housed in the Royal Observatory at Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. James also purchased additional equipment at the same time, including an alt-az telescope, astrograph, magnetometer, two seismometers, microscope and accessories, the addition of which led to the construction of a pavilion building to the south of the observatory tower, which opened in September 1898.
Orrery by Adam Hilger, 1901
Fig. 4. The Coats Observatory Orrery, installed in 1901 - Copyright John Pressly
Other instruments
- 3-inch refracting Transit Telescope by Troughton & Simms, 1883
- Astrograph by Troughton & Simms, 1898
- Spectroscope by Adam Hilger, 1883
- 3-inch Alt-Az Telescope by Troughton & Simms, 1898
- Sidereal Clock by James Ritchie, 1883
- Magnetometer & Dip Circle, 1898
- Micrometer Eyepiece, 1883
- Photometer, 1885
- Milne Seismometer, 1899
- Beck Microscope & Accessories, 1898
History
Fig. 5. The Coats Observatory complex, taken around 1900 - Copyright Renfrewshire-Leisure
Coats Observatory was officially opened for business on October 1st 1883, and the first visitor to the building was Robert Grant, professor of astronomy at Glasgow University. Grant was well known to the PPI as he had lectured to them on many occasions and provided advice on the purchase of the first telescope for the observatory, plus Grant’s assistant, Donald McLean, became the first curator of the building. He was selected from a list of over 400 applicants and continued in his role at Coats Observatory until he retired in April 1931, aged 80, after almost 50 years service.
The original telescope was a 5-inch refractor made by Thomas Cooke of York. In 1897 the PPI purchased a larger telescope to operate alongside the original one. This was to be a 10-inch equatorial refractor built by Howard Grubb of Dublin. The Grubb telescope was installed in 1898 and is still in use today. As well as the new telescope additional scientific equipment was ordered, making Coats Observatory one of the most completely furnished observatories in the country.
In September 2012 the observatory began rewriting the next exciting chapter in its history as the redevelopment works commenced on the ‘Paisley Museum Reimagined’ project. As part of this £42 million project Paisley Museum will be redesigned and remodeled, work which will include Coats Observatory in the plans. We will have more of the collection on display and be able to tell more of the fantastic history of the observatory whilst creating a world-class visitor attraction.
Present use
Operated by Renfrewshire Leisure ltd. Observatory is normally open daily 11am to 4pm and open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from the end of October to the end of March from 6:30pm to 9pm. The observatory is currently closed as part of the Paisley Museum Reimagined project, a £42 million redevelopment of the museum complex, and is due to reopen in 2022.
State of conservation
Currently undergoing refurbishment and due to reopen in 2022.
Main threats or potential threats
currently none.
Protection
Grade A Listed Building (denotes that Coats Observatory has been designated by Historic Environment Scotland as a building of national or international importance, either architectural or historic, or is a little-altered example of some particular period, style or building type - Historic Environment Scotland is the lead government body established to investigate, care for and promote Scotland’s historic environment)
Bibliography (books and published articles)
- The Coats Observatory, Paisley: Its History and Equipment, Henderson, Rev. Andrew, 1899
Links to external sites
- Observatory Facebook Page
- Paisley Museum Reimagined website
- Link to Google Maps
Back to the Astronomical Heritage - Places connected to the Sky
Return to the Places connected to the Sky map/list page.
About the author
John Pressly lives in Paisley (United Kingdom)