Lockyer Observatory

The Norman Lockyer Observatory (NLO) is a historic and active astronomical facility located on Salcombe Hill, just to the east of Sidmouth. Established in 1912 by Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer—renowned for discovering helium in the Sun's spectrum and founding the scientific journal Nature—the observatory was initially known as the Hill Observatory. After Lockyer's death in 1920, it was renamed in his honor.

The observatory houses several historic telescopes in a variety of buildings and they are set in extensive grounds. Originally heath, the grounds were ‘improved’ and landscaped to provide extensive lawns around the buildings giving easy access to the various telescopes and other equipment as well as making the appearance more ‘tidy’.

In recent years areas of gorse scrub have been cleared and heathers have been encouraged to return and this habitat restoration is beginning to show benefits without detracting from the original purposes of the site.