place

Tower of the Winds (Oxford)

1794 establishments in EnglandAstronomical observatories in EnglandBuildings and structures of the University of OxfordDefunct astronomical observatoriesGrade I listed buildings in Oxford
Grade I listed scientific buildingsGreen Templeton College, OxfordJames Wyatt buildingsNeoclassical architecture in EnglandOctagonal buildings in the United KingdomTowers completed in 1794Towers in Oxford
Tower of the Winds, Oxford
Tower of the Winds, Oxford

The Tower of the Winds is the prominent octagonal tower on top of the old Radcliffe Observatory building in Oxford, England. The building now forms a centrepiece for Green Templeton College, one of the colleges of Oxford University. The tower is based on the ancient and smaller Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, built c.100–50 BC by Andronicus of Cyrrhus for the purpose of measuring time. It is of octagonal stone construction, with eight relief images of Greek mythological wind gods at the top of each side of the tower, carved by John Bacon the Elder in 1792–4, copying those in Athens. The tower was completed by James Wyatt in 1794. On the top are Atlas and Hercules supporting a globe in white, also by John Bacon. The reliefs of the signs of the zodiac above the windows on the first floor are made of Coade stone by J. C. F. Rossi. Inside the tower, there are three main rooms on top of each other. The Tower of the Winds is situated in prominent view just to the north of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ), an area for Oxford University departments including the Blavatnik School of Government, and south of Observatory Street, named after its former use as an observatory. To the south is the Mathematical Institute building and Somerville College, juxtaposing the new 21st-century architecture of the buildings with the old 17th-century style of the observatory. To the west is the Jericho Health Centre and beyond that Walton Street, with a view of the tower in the distance from the southern end looking north along the street. To the east are the Woodstock Road and the front entrance of Green Templeton College, with St Anne's College opposite.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tower of the Winds (Oxford) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Tower of the Winds (Oxford)
King Street, Oxford Jericho

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Tower of the Winds (Oxford)Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.759722222222 ° E -1.2663888888889 °
placeShow on map

Address

King Street

King Street
OX2 6DF Oxford, Jericho
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Tower of the Winds, Oxford
Tower of the Winds, Oxford
Share experience

Nearby Places

Freud, Oxford
Freud, Oxford

Freud (aka Freud's) is a café-bar in a Victorian former church building at 119 Walton Street in Jericho, Oxford, England. The Freud café is located opposite Great Clarendon Street and the Oxford University Press is also opposite to the south. It is surrounded by the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter of the University of Oxford, formerly the Radcliffe Infirmary site. The Freud café is housed in the former St Paul's Church, a Greek Revival building designed in 1836 by Henry Jones Underwood. The church was inspired by an outbreak of cholera in the area in 1831. The building has an imposing portico with Ionic columns. The architect Edward George Bruton added the apse in 1853 and Frederick Charles Eden remodelled the interior in 1908.In the 20th century, the church became redundant and was closed in the late 1960s. After deconsecration, the building was bought by the Oxford Area Arts Council and used as a theatre and arts centre venue. In 1988, the building was acquired by Secession Ltd to prevent the building's demolition. Freud opened as a café/bar in the same year. The cafe was created by David Freud, a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art, who has an interest in buildings and their interaction with people.There is sometimes live music, such as jazz, punk, post-punk or blues. The name is often written in Roman-style capital lettering as "FREVD", for example above the main entrance door. In 2015, a new building for the Blavatnik School of Government of Oxford University on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site was opened immediately to the south of Freud. The scheme was opposed by the cafe's owner, David Freud, due to its size and height compared to the church building.There is another Freud café-bar in London.

Observatory Street
Observatory Street

Observatory Street is a street in Oxford, England. It links at the eastern end Woodstock Road (opposite Bevington Road and St Anne's College and nearly opposite St Antony's College) in central North Oxford and at the western end Walton Street and the Jericho area of Oxford, England. The street borders the north side of Green Templeton College, one of the Oxford University colleges, which has some student accommodation in the street. The street is named after the Radcliffe Observatory (completed in 1794), which now forms a centrepiece for the College. To the north is St Bernard's Road. Observatory Street, developed from 1834, mainly consists of terraced houses directly on the street, many characterized by brightly painted stuccoed fronts in a variety of colours, especially on the south side of the street, which is very late Georgian. Once built as small dwellings for poorer inhabitants of Oxford, often workers on early railway and canal construction, the houses now command high prices because of the central location of the street, within easy walking distance of the city centre and close to the Oxford University Humanities and Mathematics site on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.Belsyre Court is located on the north side at the east end of Observatory Street, Woodstock Road, and the south side at the east end of St Bernard's Road. It was designed by Ernest R. Barrow and built in 1936. Belsyre Court was the first large block of flats in Oxford. An Inland Revenue office was located here from 1936 until the early 1990s. Adelaide Street branches off Observatory Street partway along and runs parallel to the north at the western end, also connecting with Walton Street.