Near the Small Town of HestMonceux in the English County of East Sussex Sits The Former Home of the Royal Greenwich Observatorry. The Royal observatorry greenwich was the first budget in Greenwich, London, in 1675. At this original location, the observator was set up with the goal of prrowcing star charts and the acapping devices, to all British Military and Commercial fleets to more effectively navigate during their global travels. Over two centuries later, in 1884, the royal observatories greenwich's extended star charts made the site a prime choice for defining the world's line of 0˚ longitud Visited at the greenwich site today.
But the original royal observatorry greenwich did not stay at its London Location Forever. By the 1930s, it was apparent to astronomers that London was no longer a feasible location to conduct astronomical research. Dark and clear skies are needed for these types of observation; And with an expanding London Producing Ever More Smog, Air Pollution, and Light Pollution, Greenwich Could No Longer Provide the Necessary Conditions for this work. Plans were eventually made to relacate the observator operations, include of the existing 19th century telescopes, to cleaner skies Near the Small Villlage of HestMONCEUX.
However, this history site is now at risk. In the summer of 2024, the observator science center, the charity acting as custodia of the history Royal observatorry greenwich site since 1995, announced That they would be evicted by the landowners before the end of 2026.
Delayed by World War II, The Transfer of the Royal Observatories Greenwich Took Place from 1947 – 1958. Out of Sixty Candidate Sites, An Area in East Sussex was chown in the south – east of england. At the time, the site was far from the light pollution of large towns and cities, and (believe it or not) even Had Decent Weather (Compared to the rest of the uk, at least).
Following the move, the royal observatorry greenwich was renamed the royal greenwich observatorry, and scientific research continued. (Much of the Original Royal Observatorry Greenwich Site in London Still Remains, and is now a part of the National Maritime Museum). Although the institution was founded to produce star charts, the royal observatorry greenwich had mind Moved on Moved ONTO Astrophysical Research, Using Telescopes to Better Undertand the physics of the stars and phystands Above us.
At the core of the new Hestmonceux site was a group of telescopes called the equatorial group. At Its Peak, 200 people worked on site, in support of the observator's operations with these telescopes. The equatorial group is a group of Six Telescope Domes, Making Up the Primary observatorial site. Whereas Most Telescope Domes Use A Gray or White Color, The Equatorial Group Telescopes Were Built of Copper, which then Oxidized Into a distinctive Green Color. This decision was deliberate, to allow the domes to 'camouflage' into the surrounding green hills.
In 1967, The Royal Greenwich Observatorry Built A New Tool – The Isaac Newton Telescope. The Isaac newton telescope was houseed in its new huge telescope dome (white this time), offset from the rest of the site. With a 98-inch mirror at its base, this new telescope was the third largest in the world at the time.
However, as the Isaac Newton Telescope Began Scientific Research, It Soon Became Clear That This World-Class Scientific Institute was very much hindred by the location in it. With the growth of nearby towns over the prior two decades, the site no long the level of dark skies it on Furthermore, Although the south-east of england has some of the best weather in the united kingdom, frequent cloud cover was still a significant problem-leaving the telescope for Much of Much of the year.
With International Travel Now More Feasible, The decision was eventually made to relacate the isaac newton telescope to darker and clearer skies in 1984. It was moved to an observation site called 'Roque De Los Muchachos observatorry ', positioned on the top of a volcano on the island of la palma, in the canary islands.
Although it is now joined by a much larger telescope, the isaac newton telescope, originally constructed at the royal observatorry greenwich in hastmonceux, is still used in Scientific Research Today. Shortly after the move of its main telescope, the rest of the royal greenwich observatorry site was abandoned in 1990, with the transition of its reminging staff to a new office in cambridgege.
Folling the abandonment of the site in 1990, the site fell into a state of disrepair. The history telescopes were left to rust in telescope domes forgotten by the outside world. If nobody had stepped in, it's likely the important astronomical heritage of this site would have been lost future.
Thankfully, this was not the case.
In April 1995, a charity called Science Projects Took Out a Lease of the site from the landowners. (The land was owned by the canadian Queen's University, Who Bough the Estate for the Nearby HestMonceux Castle). Science projects restored the site with backing from Local District and County Councils, Restored the Historic Telescopes and Equatorial Group Domes Using National Heartury Funds in 2004, and Site a nationally recognized Grade II* Listed Status.
Since then, The Former Site of the Royal Greenwich Observatorry has been home to the Now-named observatories Science Center, Featuring Interactive Science Exhibits, Astronomy Open Evenrs, Lechms and Festivals for all to enjoy. The Historic Facility Now receives over 60,000 visitors per year, ranging from locol students, the general public, and interactive visitors.
The announsement that observatories Science Center at HestMonceux would be closed has brought out out out of the local East Sussex Community, with a Public petition To save the observatorry garnering over 12,000 signatures. I have my own special relationship with the site, and share the public's frustration at the risk of losing bot a key paper of global astronomy heritage, and an asset to the locomothese.
The landowners, The Canadian Queens University, Have Released Little Information Publicly Since The Announcement of the Charity's Eviction from their land. Their plans for the observator site, domes and history telescopes are unchalar, but in February 2025 Queen's University at Least Announced A Commitment to uphold the observatorial site's legacyWith an uncertain future, we'll have to wait and see what's next for this history.
