Fort William, Auchintore Road, Glentower
Observatory (19th Century)
Site Name Fort William, Auchintore Road, Glentower
Classification Observatory (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Former Ben Nevis Low Level Observatory; Ben Nevis Meteorological Station And Observatory
Canmore ID 106417
Site Number NN07SE 7
NGR NN 09752 73421
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/106417
- Council Highland
- Parish Kilmallie
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Lochaber
- Former County Inverness-shire
Glentower, Sydney Mitchell, 1889. Built as the Low Level Observatory, with donations and funds raised during the Edinburgh Exhibition of 1886, this pink-harled Arts & Crafts villa is one of the best along this stretch - Old Scots style with dome-roofed corner tower, shaped gable and crowsteps. The fancy canopy and square bay windows are part of early 20th century alterations. Now a retirement home.
[The Low Level Observatory was linked to a High Level Observatory, Britain's only mountain observatory, built by the Scottish Meteorological Society (also to Sydney Mitchell's design) in just 5 months in 1883 upon the summit of Ben Nevis. Now ruinous, it was a low stone structure with a wooden tower, reached by a bridle path also created at that time. Both observatories closed in 1904 due to lack of funds.]
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
