The observatory tower is home to our museum. From the Iron Age, when a Celtic fort that sat atop the hill, to the early 19th century when the Bristol School of artists used the site to observe and depict the landscape, the museum details the Clifton Observatory’s rich and unique history. There are three floors to the museum. The first details a timeline of the observatory’s history; the second floor holds information and early photography of Bristol; and on the top floor, along with Victorian art of the view from the observatory, lives our famous Camera Obscura.
William West’s Camera Obscura is one of just three working Camera Obscuras in the UK. This marvellous feat of engineering has sat atop Clifton Tower since 1828.
The Camera Obscura could be described as Victorian CCTV and it’s truly impressive to know that it still provides crystal clear real-time images of Bristol, almost 200 years after it was first installed at the observatory.
