Listing
Search the List

What is Listing?

Listing Guidance

Apply for Listing

Missing Pieces Project

Blue Plaque Scheme
Listing

Find out about listed buildings and other protected sites, and search the National Heritage List for England (NHLE).

Find out about listing

Terracotta tiles on the roof of Saintoft Lodge, Newton-on-Rawcliffe, Ryedale, North Yorkshire. Grade II listed © Historic England Archive DP371715
Advice
Climate Change

Heritage at Risk

Your Home

Technical Guidance

Planning

Caring for Heritage

Constructive Conservation
Advice

See our extensive range of expert advice to help you care for and protect historic places.

Get our advice

A contractor cutting bricks for the wall of the partially-restored wild and natural walled garden at Warley Place, Brentwood. Explore our technical advice section © Historic England Archive DP313199
Research
Our Research Strategy and Agenda

Research Governance

Latest Research

Research Methods

Current Research

Research Results

Support & Collaboration

Inclusive Heritage

Heritage Counts
Research

Discover and use our high-quality applied research to support the protection and management of the historic environment.

Discover our research

Archaeologist Dr David Neal discussing his illustration of the mosaic being excavated at Rutland Roman Villa with members of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services team View image DP264265 © Historic England
Images & Books
Find Photos

Search All Publications

Buy Books

The Historic England Archive
Images & Books

Historic England holds an extensive range of publications and historic collections in its public archive covering the historic environment.

Browse our collections

Children play with a doll and a pram on the cobbled Church Path in Queen Camel, Somerset, in April 1953. At the far end of the path is the tower of the Church of St Barnabas, which dates to the 14th century. Photographer: John Gay Image reference: AA091596 © Historic England Archive
Services & Skills
Education

Grants

Our Planning Services

Training & Skills

Archive Services

Heritage Action Zones

Levelling Up Places Service
Services & Skills

Find out about services offered by Historic England for funding, planning, education and research, as well as training and skill development.

Learn about our services

Heritage Apprentices in a training session on the Researching The Historic Environment module and training in Architectural Photography. Find out more about Heritage Apprenticeships © Historic England Archive DP347660
What's New
News

In Your Area

Historic England Blog

Latest Research

Heritage Online Debate

Statements

Stay up to Date
What's New

Read about our current news, projects and campaigns nationally and in your area.

Catch up with what's new

Two horsemen reading The Sportsman, 30 Oct 1902, Farnborough, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Part of the Alfred Newton and Sons collection. Source Historic England Archive. BB98/02592
About Us
What We Do

Who We Are

How We Are Funded

Contact Us

Careers

Volunteer with Historic England
About Us

Historic England is the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment.

Find out more

Mountbatten House (formerly Gateway House), Basing View, Basingstoke, the former headquarters for the paper merchants Wiggins Teape by Arup Associates. Listed at Grade II. © Historic England
Sign in
Manage my account

Sign out

CLIFTON OBSERVATORY

CLIFTON OBSERVATORY, CLIFTON DOWN

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1282362
Date first listed:: 04-Mar-1977
List Entry Name:: CLIFTON OBSERVATORY
Statutory Address:: CLIFTON OBSERVATORY, CLIFTON DOWN

User submitted image — Uploaded by David Lovell This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.

Date:: 1999-10-12
Reference:: IOE01/01465/24
Rights:: © Mrs Joy Roddy. Source: Historic England Archive

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1282362
Date first listed:: 04-Mar-1977
List Entry Name:: CLIFTON OBSERVATORY
Statutory Address 1:: CLIFTON OBSERVATORY, CLIFTON DOWN

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: CLIFTON OBSERVATORY, CLIFTON DOWN

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: City of Bristol (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: ST 56562 73261

Details

BRISTOL

ST5673SE CLIFTON DOWN, Clifton 901-1/7/749 (West side) 04/03/77 Clifton Observatory

II*

Former windmill, now camera obscura. C18. Camera and extension of 1828 and 1835 by a Mr West. Carboniferous limestone rubble with limestone dressings, lead roof to tower, roofless side block. Single-depth plan. 3-stage round tower with single-storey; 4-window side block. The battered tower has a first-floor casement window, and tall, moulded brackets to a rendered top storey containing the camera obscura with crenellations and casements in the embrasures. Tudor-arched doorway to the roofless side block, which has a curved end and 2 segmental-headed windows; the rear has two 4-centre arched rear windows with torus mouldings and casements with margin panes, and paired right-hand 2-light windows. INTERIOR: a winder stair up to the camera obscura in the roof, and down into a tunnel leading to Ghyston's Cave, in the side of the gorge. HISTORICAL NOTE: the windmill was damaged by fire in 1777. William West leased the mill for conversion into an observatory in 1828. In 1835 he was granted an extra piece of land adjacent to the tower on which he built a new astronomical observatory with a revolving dome and telescope "to allow unrestricted observation of the heaven". Next to this was a large room with various astronomical maps, globes and instruments, intended for occasional use as a lecture room. The tower was also altered in 1835, by the rebuilding of the wooden balcony in store and the fitting of the camera obscura. West also excavated an underground passage to Ghyston's Cave, opened 1837. (Chilcott: History of Bristol: Bristol: 1844-).

Listing NGR: ST5656273261

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 379207
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Chilcott, , History of Bristol, (1844)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.