The Altazimuth Pavilion is topped with an unusual weather vane.

It is modelled on Halley’s Comet, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. It was erected in June 1901, a few years after the building was completed but in time for the comet’s return in 1909. There is a clear link with the Observatory’s history since Halley was the second Astronomer Royal, although his famous prediction was made fifteen years before he took up the post. It is not clear why the illustration from the Bayeux Tapestry was used as inspiration, although its shape is ideal for catching the wind and echoes that of the weathervanes of the Royal Naval College down the hill.

On my recent trip to Kent I payed my first visit to Rochester and one of the first things I noticed as I entered the city was a weather vane in the shape of a ship. On further investigation I found that it was on top of the guildhall which was built in 1687.

Outside, mounted on the roof, is an amazing weather vane in the form of a fully rigged 18th-century warship. This is 1.52m tall and weighs just under 51kg. It is made of gilded copper and lead alloy and has weathered the ever-changing climate since 1780.

the old stable block, which is listed in Edward Ferrers’s  ‘Account of what I have built and altered in and about Baddesley house’ as costing £76 17s 7d in 1714. Some of the arched entrances were bricked up to allow the interior to be fitted out with Victorian loose-boxes.

The timber-framed clock turret above the stable had to be renewed by the National Trust in 1981, after it had become dilapidated. the single-handed turret clock has a fine unaltered mechanism now restored to working order. Edward Ferrers spent £19 4s on ‘The Clock, Bell, Fan Dyall Board etc.’