The King’s Observatory, a grand building commissioned by King George III as an observatory for the transit of Venus is going to open its doors later this month for a rare chance to see inside. Tours started a couple of years ago, and this is the third time the owners have opened up what is now a private home to visitors.
The King’s Observatory will be open weekdays only from 16th September to 23rd October this year.
The Observatory is about a 15-minute walk from Richmond town centre, and sits in the middle of a golf course. After hundreds of years of mixed-use and owners, it’s now owned by a Hong Kong-based businessman with a passion for heritage, Robbie Brothers who has since lavished a lot of time and money on restoring the building.
It is now his private house, but last year he decided to open it up for a short run of tours – which proved to be hugely popular. So the tours are happening again.
It’s a chance to see inside a private building, but also one that was built for royalty and has been beautifully restored, and still has the original observatory on the roof, which is included in the tour.
The charge is £15 per person.
The walk around the house will take approximately 90 minutes. Due to Covid-19 and social distancing guidelines, visitors will not be accompanied by a tour guide and so you will need to download the audio guide which is available on their website.
My review from the first-ever tours last year is here.
To book a tour for yourself, go here.
I went last year after seeing it here. That 15m walk is bracing at that time of year. The tour guide is fantastic and I’m not sure it’s worth doing without them, I’ll check out the audio guide. We were told that the tours earlier in the year are from the owner.