In April 1946, it was announced that the Observatory would be moving to Herstmonceux. By the following September, George Rodger from Life had secured permission from the Observatory to visit and photograph not only the two existing sites at Greenwich and Abinger but also the site at Herstmonceux (which at that point had still to be formally acquired).
The images can be viewed on the Google Arts and Culture, Royal Observatory Greenwich page. At the time of writing (October 2021) the page held 81 images of which 74 were by George Rodger. The images are numbered, but uncatalogued. The serial numbers run from 115869915 to 115869988 with images from the three sites in non-sequential order. The spreadsheet below gives more detail on each image.
Click here for just the Rodger images (unsorted by either site of serial number).
Click on the links below for individual images.
ID (Life) |
Observatory site |
Description |
| 115869915 | Greenwich | Osler Anemometer on western turret on the roof of Flamsteed House |
| 115869916 | Abinger | Time Department Control Desk |
| 115869917 | Greenwich | Observer at the eye-end of Small Reversible Transit Telescope B in the Altazimuth Pavilion |
| 115869918 | Abinger | Building containing the Time desk, clock cellars and flat of the Officer-in-Charge of the Time Department (Humphry Smith) |
| 115869919 | Greenwich | Members of the public viewing the Public Barometer on the Observatory boundary wall adjacent to the gates into the courtyard. |
| 115869920 | Abinger | Time Department Control Room |
| 115869921 | Greenwich | Yapp Dome in the Christie Enclosure |
| 115869922 | Abinger | Entrance to the Observatory site with the caretakers' house on the left |
| 115869923 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle: view from the top of the Gatehouse tower looking south over the moat towards the Astronomer Royal's car and some of the hutments scheduled to be converted into offices for HM Nautical Almanac Office (foreground), workshops, other offices, store-rooms and a hostel for the male staff |
| 115869924 | Greenwich | Dent 2016 (clock) in the Rugby Room in the Eastern Summerhouse |
| 115869925 | Greenwich | Rugby Room? (in the Eastern Summerhouse) |
| 115869926 | Abinger | John Pope |
| 115869927 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle: view from the top of the Gatehouse tower looking north-east |
| 115869928 | Abinger | Time Department Control Desk |
| 115869929 | Abinger | Time Department Control Desk |
| 115869930 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle from the south |
| 115869931 | Greenwich | Yapp Telescope in the Christie Enclosure |
| 115869932 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle: moat and Gatehouse tower from the south |
| 115869933 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle: view from the top of the Gatehouse tower looking north-north-east |
| 115869934 | Greenwich | Philibert Mellotte in the New Physical Building |
| 115869935 | Abinger | Magnetic observatory with the Absolute Instruments Pavilion centre and a store hut on the left |
| 115869936 | Greenwich | Ancient instruments mounted on the walls of the room housing the Airy Transit Circle |
| 115869937 | Greenwich | New Physical Building. Magnetic Office? (from left to right Miss J. Mounteney?, D. Oliver, George Wells ) |
| 115869938 | Greenwich | Philibert Mellotte in the New Physical Building |
| 115869939 | Greenwich | Two observers at the Cooke Reversible Transit Instrument in the Christie Enclosure |
| 115869940 | Abinger | Checking the battery acid in the Battery Room |
| 115869941 | Greenwich | View towards Greenwich Power Station from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Time-Ball on the right |
| 115869942 | Greenwich | Chief Assistant Robert Atkinson in his office in the New Physical Building |
| 115869943 | Greenwich | Airy Transit Circle. The telescope is pointing vertically downwards and the observer is checking the level of the instrument by making an observation by reflection using the Bohnenberger’s eyepiece |
| 115869944 | Greenwich | Viewing the length standards next to the public barometer on the Observatory boundary wall adjacent to the gates into the courtyard. |
| 115869945 | Greenwich | Observer at the eye-end of the Airy Transit Circle |
| 115869946 | Greenwich | William Witchell checking the anemometer trace |
| 115869947 | Greenwich | Altazimuth Building. Showing wartime structural damage to the south portico and the re-covered dome (painted silver using aluminium paint) |
| 115869948 | Greenwich | Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal, standing next to the sundial in the lower garden with the Great Equatorial Building behind |
| 115869949 | Greenwich | View towards Greenwich Power Station from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Time-Ball on the right |
| 115869950 | Greenwich | Astronomer Royal in garden to south of Flamsteed House |
| 115869951 | Greenwich | View towards London from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Osler Anemometer on western turret to the right |
| 115869952 | Greenwich | S. Medland (left) and unidentified (right) making adjustments to the Shepherd Gate Clock in the Observatory workshop prior to its reinstallation |
| 115869953 | Greenwich | View looking north from the New Physical Building with the Great Equatorial Building (left), the Altazimuth Pavilion (centre) and Airy's New Library (right) |
| 115869954 | Greenwich | Great Equatorial Building from the west, with the Meridian Building to the left |
| 115869955 | Greenwich | Entrance from the courtyard to the Meridian Building (north-west corner) |
| 115869956 | Greenwich | Chronograph Drum |
| 115869957 | Greenwich | Mural Arc by Abraham Sharp |
| 115869958 | Greenwich | Yapp Telescope in the Christie Enclosure |
| 115869959 | Abinger | Time Department Control Desk |
| 115869960 | Greenwich | Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal, examining the sundial in the lower garden |
| 115869961 | Greenwich | Looking southwards towards an observer at the eye-end of Small Reversible Transit Telescope B in the Altazimuth Pavilion |
| 115869962 | Greenwich? | Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal |
| 115869963 | Greenwich | Christie Enclosure, Cooke Reversible Transit Circle in the with Richard Thomas Cullen at the eyepiece |
| 115869964 | Greenwich | Standing astride the Greenwich Meridian where it is marked on the path in the park immediately to the north of the Observatory |
| 115869965 | Abinger | Humphry Smith? at the Transit Hut |
| 115869966 | Greenwich | Flamsteed House: Dedication Plaque (from the 1670s) and damaged porch (erected by Airy) over the original front door |
| 115869967 | Greenwich | New Physical Building (South Building) from the west, showing damage to the dome and the spectroheliograph protruding from the upper floor of the south wing |
| 115869968 | Abinger | Regulators (clocks) of the Greenwich Time Service in the Clock Room erected in 1942. From left to right: Slave of Shortt 40 (sidereal), Slave of Shortt 49 (mean-solar) Dent 2012; diminished seconds slave of Shortt 67 (used for rhthmic time-signals) |
| 115869969 | Greenwich | Distant view of the Observatory from the north-east |
| 115869970 | Abinger | Control desk of the time Department |
| 115869971 | Greenwich | Clock cellars, Flamsteed House. Shortt Free Pendulum Clock 67 (master) . Set up the previous year, it contolled Dent 2016, a regulator located in the Rugby Room in the Eastern Summerhouse which was used to provide a reserve service of six-pip time signals for the BBC and hourly signals for the Post Office. |
| 115869972 | Greenwich | Viewing the Public Barometer on the Observatory boundary wall adjacent to the gates into the courtyard |
| 115869973 | Greenwich | Tape chronograph in the Altazimuth Dome housing Small Reversible Transit Telescope B made in 1870 by Troughton & Simms and recently set up for time observations |
| 115869974 | Abinger | John Pope in the Time Department Control Room |
| 115869975 | Greenwich | Chief Assistant Robert Atkinson in his office in the New Physical Building |
| 115869976 | Greenwich | Copy of the text of the warrant for the payment of Flamsteed's salary. Mounted and resting on an unidentified external windowsill |
| 115869977 | Greenwich | Philibert Mellotte in the New Physical Building |
| 115869978 | Greenwich | View towards the Meridian Building from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Great Equatorial dome (left) and the Astrographic dome (right). Note the wartime camouflage paint |
| 115869979 | Greenwich | Distant view of the Observatory from the north-east |
| 115869980 | Greenwich | Great Equatorial Building from the Lower Garden |
| 115869981 | Greenwich | At work measuring a solar plate in a plate measuring machine in the New Physical Building. Philip Laurie (left) and Harold Barton (right) |
| 115869982 | Greenwich | Flamsteed House from the Courtyard. Astronomer Royal's car in the foreground |
| 115869983 | Greenwich | Great Equatorial Building from the east, with the Gatehouse on the right |
| 115869984 | Herstmonceux | Herstmonceux Castle: the Tower Bedroom at the top of the Gatehouse Tower |
| 115869985 | Greenwich | View towards Royal Naval College and Queen's House from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Osler Anemometer on western turret on the left |
| 115869986 | Greenwich | The workshop in the basement of the New Physical Building |
| 115869987 | Greenwich | View towards Greenwich Power Station from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Time-Ball on the eastern turret on the right |
| 115869988 | Greenwich | View towards Royal Naval College and Queen's House from the roof of Flamsteed House with the Osler Anemometer on western turret on the left |
© 2014 – 2024 Graham Dolan
Except where indicated, all text and images are the copyright of Graham Dolan