Brisbane Observatory
Observatory (19th Century)
Site Name Brisbane Observatory
Classification Observatory (19th Century)
Canmore ID 291070
Site Number NS26SW 3.02
NGR NS 20846 61925
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/291070
- Council North Ayrshire
- Parish Largs
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Cunninghame
- Former County Ayrshire
NS26NW 50 20846 61925
Remains of 1808 observatory built by Sir Thomas Brisbane close the Brisbane House (now demolished). The observatory was one of the first in Scotland and was the prototype for Australia's first permanent observatory also built by Sir Thomas Brisbane. Little remains of the observatory but 2 sets of Meridian Pillars linked to the observatory survive. One set lies to the S of the remains of the observatory (NS26SW 3.01) and the other is in Waterside Street, Largs (NS25NW 167). Information from Historic Scotland, October 2007.
Standing Building Recording (20 April 2015 - 22 April 2015)
NS 20846 61925 A detailed historic building survey was undertaken, 20–22 April 2015, of the early 19th-century observatory built on the former Brisbane Estate, located c3km N of Largs. The now ruined observatory structure is located adjacent to the site of the 17th-century Brisbane House (demolished in 1941).
This small but historically important and influential private observatory was established in 1808 by Thomas Brisbane (1774–1860), later General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, in the policies of his principal seat, Brisbane House by Largs; the observatory was completed in 1811. The structure is rubble-built with the exception of the exterior E and S-facing elevations which are ashlar-fronted. The rubble masonry is of lime-bonded mixed field stone. Externally the rubble was harled, of which some trace still remains. The ashlar work employed for dressings for openings, quoining and architectural enrichment, is finely cut, finely droved and tight-jointed, employing a hard fine-grained pale grey sandstone.
The observatory is almost precisely square in plan at 28'0" by 28'2" (8.51m by 8.57m). The most striking feature of the plan is the near semi-circular bow that projects from the centre of its S elevation, which had supported the observatory’s dome. Its walls rise from a basal plinth course (the original ground surface) to wall head for 9'6" (2.9m).
Brisbane is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Scotland and is of outstanding significance in relation to the history of science. It is also of some considerable architectural significance and has been attributed to the notable Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Brisbane Observatory Trust
Information from Kenneth Macfadyen (Addyman Archaeology) February 2016
(Source: DES, Volume 18)
OASIS ID: addymana1-298268
