Fernley Observatory, May 2007
geograph.org.uk
Fernley Observatory is a Grade II listed structure
Structure of particular architectural and/or historic interest deserving of special protection. in Hesketh Park, Southport. It was originally built in the garden of the meteorologist and astronomer Joseph Baxendell’s home in Birkdale, in 1877. Its 6-inch (15 cm) refracting telescope, dated 1869, was manufactured by T. Cooke and Sons,[1] and donated by Baxendell’s friend the cotton manufacturer and politician Thomas S. Bazley.[2] Following Baxendell’s death in 1887 his family donated the observatory to Southport Corporation,[1] and it was subsequently installed on top of a specially built brick structure in Hesketh Park in 1901.[2]
The observatory is named after the philanthropist John Fernley (1796–1873), who had funded the construction of the nearby Fernley Meteorological Observatory,[3] also in Hesketh Park but no longer extant.[1]
The off-centre dome has two opening panels and is mounted on castors, allowing it to rotate. Baxendell was a devout Methodist, and had the first line from Psalms, chapter 19 (XIX-I, K.J.V) painted around the dome’s base:[1]
Fernley Observatory has been in the care of the Fernley Observatory Heritage Group since 2014, with the responsibility of restoring the structure and opening it to the public.[4]
