Carkeek Observatory (original) (raw)

The Carkeek Observatory is the earliest surviving astronomical observatory in New Zealand. It was built around 1867 by retired customs officer and amateur astronomer Stephen Carkeek on his farm south of Featherston in the Wairarapa. The timber building was in two parts: an octagonal room with a rotating canvas dome, and a rectangular annex. Carkeek died in 1878 and the disused observatory became a farm equipment shed. As late as the 1980s it was still largely intact, but is now a partial ruin, although the annex and parts of the rotation mechanism can still be seen in place. It was added as a Category I historic place in the New Zealand Heritage List on 26 June 2020.