The Site
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A
close up of the actual deed "Indenture" showing
the area of land allocated to John Craig for the building
of his telescope.
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Although
the location of the site is known within a very small margin
of error, the position of the telescope within the site is
known with less certainty.
The
site lies in the south west corner of Wandsworth Common, its
northern boundary being defined by the public path that runs
just south of the gardens of the houses in Routh Road. The
western side stops on the grass verge pavement in Lyford Road.
In
1852, Lyford Road was not built up and would almost certainly
have been narrow and poorly made. However, it would have afforded
easy access to the highest part of the site - the north west
corner.
The
land was clearly marked on the deed "Indenture"
showing where the plot was to be placed, even including the
bounding areas of the late Mr Shepherd to the west and Mr
Forbes to the north. According to the map the actual size
of the plot was 1-acre, 3-rods and 0-perches.
Today
the area is covered with trees and many footpaths criss cross
the common.
Since
the site was returned to common land once the telescope had
fallen into disuse in about 1870, there are no features remaining
whatsoever. However, the method of removal and demolition
in those days was probably not so thorough as it is today,
it may be that the footings to the central tower still remain
hidden under the shrub.A cursory investigation
of the area shows no indication of land features such as a
mound that might represent the buried remains of the central
tower.
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This picture shows one possible location of the telescope
tower. Although the area is in no way raised or recessed,
after some very careful non-invasive examinations it
was found that the ground had a higher than normal density
signature, suggestive of foundation work perhaps? This
view faces almost exactly due west. The northern boundary
is to the right. This image was taken 11th August 2002.
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Examination
of the many pathways on the common are similar in appearance
except for the small one passing close to the assumed
tower site.
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There
are many paths that cross the common. Some of these have remained
more or less unchanged since the 1850s since they appear on
the early maps. On examination of these paths all are of the
same basic soil/loam type. They are well trodden. Evidence
that the tower site may indeed be correct is further corroborated
by evidence of ballast well embedded in the surface soil.
It is because there is a path which has cut through the remedial
landscaping after the telescope was removed that has revealed
this ballast
Several
other important facts can be gleaned from what appears at
first glance, rather circumstantial evidence. The ballast
is ungraded - the stones are of a variety of sizes - something
that is more difficult to come by these days. It would suggest
the ballast is old. When the tower was weighted to limit the
effects of vibration, ballast would have been the obvious
choice; because it could easily be handled after it had been
bagged and then hauled up the narrow vertical stairway inside
the tower to the various floors. Perhaps the clear up operation
to return the site to "common" usage, was not as
diligently carried out as it could have been and that there
was some spillage or indeed infilling of the tower's footings
with the broken ballast bags.
Some
years ago a visit to the site by Stewart Mclaughlin revealed
two short posts that appeared to be parts of the 32 metre
outer rail, however, the Roads Department at the Wandsworth
Council assured me that these had nothing to do with the telescope
and had been removed from the roadside paths in a clean up
operation to remove footpath "clutter". It is an
interesting fact that at the site, and one has to assume that
this was the case at the time of the telescope, that the land
slopes slightly downhill from west to east. In all the engravings
and illustrations the outer rail is shown as being more or
less level with the ground - inlaid. However, if this indeed
was the arrangement it must have caused many problems. Stones
and gravel would have plagued the smooth running of the azimuth
motion. Making sure the eyepiece did not move up and down
when observing - even by a small margin - must have also been
a problem!
Certainly,
the lie of the land just here would have given Mr Craig excellent
uninterrupted views of the sky. London lay to the north, while
the small town of Wimbledon was a short distance to the south.
The docks of Wandsworth, just a mile or two north, would have
made the transportation of, say, the telescope tube, very
easy. London Town had ample rail links to many of England's
large towns.
The
bricks for the central tower of the telescope may have come
from the same source as those of the Wandsworth Prison built
only a few years earlier. These had come from the Frying Pan
Brickworks not far from the site. If this is so then any masonry
finds on the site that could be associated with the central
tower may be the same those making up the Wandsworth Prison
today. A cursory investigation of the site showed no sign
of any bricks.
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Here, we are standing directly over the corner on the
north west of the site looking south east. The telescope
would have been directly in front of us. This image
looks straight along the trackway on the left; this
runs along the north edge of the site. The fence on
the extreme left of the photograph lies exactly where
the telescope's perimeter fence would have stood. On
the right is Lyford Road running southwards away from
us.
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 An
article written in 1856 mentions, "...surrounded
by a wooden hoarding to keep off intruders".
The fence shown in the engraving in the Illustrated
London News was drawn from a daguerreotype photograph
and so would suggest that the perimeter fence did exist.
Also, it was less likely that the artist would have made
changes to the overall composition, so therefore, the
fence's proximity to the telescope in the illustration
goes a long way to confirm the tower's suggested position
today.
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If the "scope existed today perhaps it would look
something like this. We are standing on the south west
corner of the site, the photograph covers a wide angle
90° sweep from Lyford Road on the left to the oak
tree on the right of the bench in the foreground. Some
of the trees directly beyond the bench have been removed
in order to reveal where the telescope may have stood.
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Using
some old maps, especially one created in 1856, not only is
the two acre plot marked, but also a dark spot with the word
"Observatory" written above! It is worth mentioning
the two buildings on the northern boundary - each are about
half the size of present housing in Routh Road.
The
1870 map reveals no "telescope" marking. It may
be that the telescope had been either removed or was in such
a state as to be unrecognisable for any particular purpose.
The
present day Ordnance map shows the modern day sprawl of the
housing now occupying this part of the common. The properties
in Lyford Road were built at the beginning of the 20th Century,
while those in Routh Road are of an earlier period. Notice,
also, the positioning of the trackways crossing the common
from one map to the next, this may help in pinning down the
tower's location. Notice also the elevation contours showing
the 30 metre height of the ground. The highest part of the
site is the north west corner, although not by much.
The
aerial photograph only goes to show how much the vegitation
and foliage has grown up since the days of the 'scope, when
all that was there was more or less gorse and brambles.
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