History of the Kew Observatory. 



l 61 



" The History of the Kew Observatory." By Robert Henry 

 Scott, M.A., F.R.S., Secretary to the Meteorological Council. 

 Received and read June 18, 1885.* 



The building, known by a misnomer of at least half a century's 

 date as the Kew Observatory, while it is really situated at Richmond, 

 is erected on, or close to, a part of the foundations of a much earlier 

 structure, the old Carthusian Priory of Jesus of Bethlehem. 



We learn from Crisp's "Richmond" that "the ancient hamlet of 

 West Sheen occupied that portion of land now known as the Richmond 

 Gardens, or Old Deer Park, and for the site of which hamlet or village 

 we may perhaps take with tolerable correctness the present Observa- 

 tory as the centre." 



The Observatory is situated upon a low mound, which is apparently 

 artificial. The central part of the bailding stands upon vaulting con- 

 structed of bricks, differing in character from modern "stock" bricks, 

 being soft, red, thinner and narrower. Similar bricks are to be found 

 in the walls of Richmond Palace (Crisp, p. 123), and such have been 

 mainly used in the construction of the basement of the Observatory, 

 up to the stone course. 



The basement is surrounded by three successive square rings of 

 vaulting, of which the innermost is 5 feet wide by 8 feet high, the 

 second 8 feet by 6 feet high, and the third and last 6 feet 6 inches by 

 5 feet high. This vaulting is constructed of bricks similar to those 

 used in the upper part of the bailding, which resemble the bricks of 

 the present day. 



Crisp's statement, given above, is not absolutely exact, for the topo- 

 graphical history of the plot of land bounded on the one side by 

 the bend of the river, and on the other by the present high road from 

 Richmond to Kew, the old " Kew Lane " (see Fig. 3, p. 46), is rather 

 complicated. Three separate domains can, however, be recognised — 



1. Kew Gardens. 



2. Richmond Gardens. 



3. The Old Deer Park. 



Of the three domains Nos. 1 and 2 were separated by a bridle path 

 called " Love Lane," which started from West Sheen Lane near 

 Richmond Green, and ran in a north and south direction to the Horse 



* I am indebted to the kindness of several friends for much assistance in the 

 preparation of this history, particularly to Dr. E. W. Bond, of the British Museum, 

 Mr. W. Thiselton Dyer, F.R.S., and to the members of the staff of the Observatory. 

 — R. H. S. 



