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West Linton, Talla Observatory
Observatory (19th Century) - (20th Century)
Site Name West Linton, Talla Observatory
Classification Observatory (19th Century) - (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Harlaw Muir; Harelaw Muir; Old Deepsykehead
Canmore ID 277355
Site Number NT15SE 59
NGR NT 18036 54687
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/277355
- Council Scottish Borders, The
- Parish Linton (Tweeddale)
- Former Region Borders
- Former District Tweeddale
- Former County Peebles-shire
NT15SE 59 18036 54687
For long cairn (adjacent to SW), see NT15SE 5.
(Talla Observatory, West Linton: location cited as NT 18036 54687).
Information from Prof R Paxton, September 2005.
This building is published as Tower [NAT] on a recent large-scale OS map: no sheet reference or date of survey is available.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 29 November 2005.
OS Landline.
Publication Account (2007)
The setting out of the line and level of the Talla Aqueduct was done with great precision from observatories, the concrete pillars, a number of which still survive, including one on a steep hillside near Tweedsmuir (NT 106 260) and this one, about a mile south of six others, within a masonry tower near West Linton. The drawing shows its long gone timber superstructure. The brass transit instrument with 30-inch telescope used in setting out the aqueduct is now in the ICE Museum at Heriot-Watt University.
The engineers for the aqueduct were J. & A. Leslie & Reid of Edinburgh and the main contractors were John Best of Edinburgh and Robert McAlpine & Sons, Glasgow.
R Paxton and J Shipway 2007
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Lowlands and Borders' with kind permission from Thomas Telford Publishers.
Sbc Note (15 April 2016)
Visibility: Standing structure or monument.
Information from Scottish Borders Council
