Building record 7756/7 - Jodrell Bank Observatory: Radiant Hut B26

<1> Historic England, 2015-, Notification Report of Decision not to Designate, Fox P, 11/07/2017 (Written Communication). SCH7825.

‘…The Radiant hut was built c1949. It is of exactly the same construction and design as the buildings thought to have been constructed at this time around the northern and eastern sides of ‘The Green’, and there is no evidence to suggest that it was later in date. It appears with deciduous trees in full foliage in a photograph that was included in February 1951 in (Sir) Bernard Lovell’s memorandum setting out his ideas for what became the Mark I Telescope, and therefore appears likely to have been built by at least the summer of 1950. It is not shown in a photograph thought to have been taken c1950 by WT Sullivan, looking north along the west side of The Green. However, this photograph must date to 1949 or earlier, because it also does not show the 30ft Telescope that was sited in the north-west corner of the green. The 30ft Telescope is known to have been present by at least 8 September 1949, when it was shown by Lovell to HC Husband, the engineer who designed the Mark I Telescope.

The buildings around The Green were the hub of both research and teaching onsite. The construction of these new buildings marked a serious commitment by the university to the development of a permanent radio astronomy facility at the Jodrell Bank site. Prior to construction of this hut, radiant research was carried out in a wooden hut in the same location. The radiant of a meteor is its apparent point of origin in the sky and the Radiant Hut was the focus of research measuring these, using (no longer extant) large ‘Yagi’ aerial arrays sited to the north and south.

Externally the appearance of the original building is little-altered except for the painted finish and plastic rainwater goods. However, substantial extensions have been added. The first was added across the whole rear (west) wall and comprised side walls of the same concrete block-work as the original building and a brick-lined rear wall, with overhanging concrete wall-plates supporting the roof deck. Subsequently, a timber-clad narrow extension was added to the north end of the west wall. Both of these extensions took place by 1958, but they are not thought to relate to significant scientific advances. A roof-extension is also known to have been in place by the late 1950s, probably added at the same time as the timber rear extension and clad in the same material. This stood on the rear half of the original roof and comprised a square, flat-roofed shed. A timber guard rail was also added around the perimeter of the original roof, together with some supporting structures for unidentified equipment. These roof-top alterations have all since been removed…’

<2> Chris Blandford Associates, 2016, Jodrell Bank Observatory, Conservation Management Plan (Client Report). SCH8560.