The Fascinating Story Behind Dundee’s Mills Observatory
The first ever purpose-built observatory in the UK really has a fascinating history
Sitting atop of Balgay Hill is the country’s oldest purpose-built public observatory — Mills Observatory to be precise! This little observatory holds quite a lot of history and it has made quite an impact on the city!
The history of Mills Observatory starts with a man called John Mills. John was a manufacturer of line and twine in Dundee. He was also a keen astronomer.
A private observatory
John built his own private observatory on the slopes of the Dundee Law, located where Adelaide Place is today. There he had a main telescope, a transit room and a study where he wrote his observations. John also had a transit instrument which signified that he was tracking timings of the passage of the stars across the medrian.
The telescope he had at the observatory was designed by Dundee instrument maker George Lowden who had supplied John Mills with a number of instruments. The telescope he had is currently on show at the visitor centre at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.
Going back to the past and plans for a public observatory to be built was the next step as a result of a bequest from John Mills.
Highs and lows during the planning period
The Dundee Town Council (now Dundee City Council) were in no favour to receive the bequest from John and he left money in his will to go to a public observatory. After he died in 1889, there was a plan to give the money to the University College in the city, however, they sought out expert advice from the those at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London to see if such a project was feasible. The advice they received envisaged that only very limited public access would be possible.
Due to the advice given, the University College declared that the project unfortunately did not fit into their plans and subsequently declined the offer.
Because of this, a trust was set up with the town council to get a new public observatory built atop of the Dundee Law.
That hut a snag due to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 and plans for the observatory to be built on the Law were scrapped due to the reservation of a war memorial which would be built there instead to commemorate those who lost their lives. For the observatory, plans were put on hold and no further development was done for the rest of the 1920s — and all hope for an observatory to be built in the city seemed lost.
With the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s, plans for the observatory were brought up once more as the use of a new observatory would provide much-needed work for the depressed building industry.
The town council sought out consultancy from Professor Ralph Allan Sampson who at the time was Astronomer Royal for Scotland, a title given to the director of the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.
Due to the Dundee Law now being the home to the war memorial, Professor Sampson helped seek out potential areas of Dundee where a new observatory could be located and eventually he concluded that Balgay Hill would be best suited to a new observatory because of its astronomical suitability and for public access.
What made Balgay Hill ideal for a new observatory was the fact that with Dundee’s geography being unique with the hills overlooking the Tay, the observatory would be protected from the main lights in the city due to the trees from Balgay blocking out the lights from hitting on the observatory.
With a location secured and plans going full steam ahead, the design for the observatory came from James MacLellan Brown who Professor Sampson collaborated with. James went to design a much more modern observatory compared to the one planned before the War.
The dome of the observatory was hand-operated and was made out of papier-mâché built on a framework of steel. Mills Observatory is only one of two observatories in the UK to have its dome made out of papier-mâché.
The observatory was, of course, ultimately named after John Mills due to his bequest to the town council for the project.
Welcoming Mills to the world!
After many years of delay and problems in the planning for the project, Mills Observatory opened on 28 October 1935 by Professor Sampson.
There was joy and pride in the opening of the observatory and many people congratulated those at Mills Observatory for opening including the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich, Sir H. Spencer Jones.
After the opening of the observatory, J Grant Bruce was named as its first curator.
J. Grant Bruce was an instrument maker from nearby Newport in Fife and his role was part-time. Alongside Grant Bruce was a permanent caretaker, George Dorward.
Two of the first telescopes to be featured in the observatory were Turret telescopes which were four inches long.
During the 1940s, a photographic telescope which promised to enhance astronomical research in Scotland was tested at Mills. In 1952, a Cooke telescope — one of the longest available to the public — was installed at the observatory.
Sir Patrick Moore was a frequent visitor to the observatory, he praised the work the observatory were doing and stated that Mills was ‘quite unique in his experience’.
It wasn’t just popular with scientists, astromers and professors, being a public observatory allowed Dundonians and others outwith the city to come, see and explore. In 1943, school children from the city came to the observatory to watch a solar eclipse and also a double eclipse of the sun and Jupiter in 1953.
Popularity increased with the observatory between the late 1960s to the early 1970s, this was primarily due to the Apollo missions which of course landed man on the surface of the Moon for the very first time.
In July 1969, the observatory installed a colour television in the lecture room for folk from Dundee and the local area to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing — and it’s fair to say it wasn’t just incredible for man as a whole but incredible for Mills as it witnessed it’s largest ever gathering! David Scott, Apollo commander and the seventh man to walk on the Moon, had also visited the observatory back in 2005.
In 2013, the newest and flagship telescope — a 16-inch Dobsonian reflector was installed.
Over the course of the past few years, Mills has continued to be a popular tourist attraction. Thousands descended onto Balgay Hill and to Mills to observe the 2015 solar eclipse where 95% of the eclipse was visible and it continues to be a popular place for astronomers, scientists and most importantly — the public to visit!
‘Becoming very successful in it’s purpose’
What is so special about Mills Observatory though is the fact it has managed to be very successful in it’s purpose — becoming the country’s first purpose-built observatory and capturing the hearts of professionals and members of the public.
Mills Observatory is one very special place to visit. Once lockdown is over and when Mills reopens — I highly recommend a visit to this awesome place!
