Historical materials on the Herschels
Memories of Observatory House

Patrick Moore

We hear a great deal about No 19 New King Street, Bath, where William Herschel lived when he discovered the planet Uranus. It was in danger of demolition; mercifully it has been saved, and is now the Herschel Museum. We have been honoured to welcome there members of the Herschel Society of Japan.

We hear much less about Observatory House, Slough, where William Herschel erected his largest telescope, where John Herschel was brought up and where Alexander Herschel ended his days. This is understandable, because it no longer exists. It was pulled down over thirty years ago, and nothing remains. For a time an obelisk stood on the site of the great 40-foot telescope, but even this has been moved now.

I must be one of the relatively few people who remember it. I went there often in Lady Herschel's lifetime, and indeed had dinner with her there only a short time before she died. Observatory House was a great place, with 'atmosphere'; it was not in the least gloomy - 'stately' would be a better description of it. All in all it was friendly house, and it was imbued with the spirit of the Herschels. On the front lawn there was a grassy patch where the 40-foot telescope had stood, and the remains of the tube were still to be seen nearby.

I last went there on the day before demolition started, and therefore the photographs I took then must have been the very last of all. I stood by the remains of the tube; it was a sad moment. A piece of history was about to vanish forever.

Could Observatory House have been saved? Sadly, the answer is 'no'. There was too much dry rot, wet rot and woodworm. It would soon have been hopelessly unsafe, and there was no alternative to demolition. I do regret, however, that no effort was made to set up a permanent monument on the site, as has been done even at Feldhausen in South Africa where John Herschel went to map the southern sky.

I am glad to have seen Observatory House. And at least we must be thankful that we still have No 19 New King Street.

Quoted from the Newsletter No 60 issued by the Herschel Society of Japan

Observatory House before demolition and the tube of the 40-foot telescope


Notes

  1. Alexander Herschel: 1836-1907. John Herschel's fifth child (the second son). He had lived in Observatory House until his death in 1888.
  2. Lady Herschel: Here means Catherine Margaret Herschel, who died in 1957. She was the wife of the last baronet of the Herschels, John Charles William Herschel (1869-1950, John Herschel's grandson).

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