newlyn.info - from newlyn to newlyn in cornwall

Q & A

Ordnance Datum

Thursday, 17 August 2006

Q. I have recently thoroughly enjoyed a week's holiday in Cornwall; my first visit.
However, I was disappointed to see that your town has not made any use of its historic position of being the location of the country's "Ordnance Datum"; the height datum for all the Ordnance Surveys mapping.

The tide gauge is of course situated in the Tidal Observatory on the south pier at Newlyn. The Datum was calculated from hourly readings of the sea level recorded on an automatic tide gauge from 1 May 1915 to 30 April 1921. The Observatory Bench Mark is some 4.751m above the datum.

On inspecting the area, I found several buildings at the end of the pier, but no signs, no plaques only locked, grubby buildings. The Ordnance Survey probably has no connection with the present day site, but I would have expected either the Tourist Board or Newlyn's own web-site to have some information of it's existence.

Historically, the site has importance. Might I suggest that the site be investigated and information on its existence and history be part of your lovely town's tourist trail.

You are quite right we should make more of this and I will see if I can initiate something appropriate. There isn't much to see but maybe a plaque on the seawall would be suitable. There is a mention of the Ordnance Datum in the booklet 'The Newlyn Trail' (p.31) and in my own 'Brief History of Newlyn' (pp 44-45). I will write something appropriate for the history section of this website. Margaret Perry

Comments (2) Add Comment

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written by David Conington, January 31, 2008

I totally agree with you that much more should be made of the Newlyn Tidal Observatory's historical importance. There are moves afoot to do just this, and hopefully in the not too distant future the general public will be able to see the working tidal guage in action. We have also made moves to try and get the original guage (presently in a museum in London), back to Newlyn when a suitable exhibition site is created.
David Conington This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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written by Steve Rawle, January 19, 2008

I have recently visited Cornwall and made a special point of searching for the Tidal Observertory.I was lucky to speak to a gentleman who had the key to the building but could not let me in because the pier was now gated off for health and safety reasons. What a disapointment. All I could do was take a photo of the small lighthouse and observatory building. It would be good to see some acknoledgement of this important site.
Regards
Steve
Porlock
Somerset This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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