The iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire has been a site of wonder and discovery for decades, attracting schools, scientists and interested people for years. Now, it has been announced that Jodrell Bank will lose its government funding, leading it to potential closure in 2028.
In 2019 Jodrell Bank was recognised as a site of Outstanding Universal Value and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. It has housed the largest steerable telescope in the world, the Lovell Telescope, for over 70 years and the cut has been described by Manchester’s Professor Brian Cox as “hasty and ill-considered”.
Jodrell Bank was established in 1945 after scientist Bernard Lovell chose a remote field in Cheshire to test whether radar could be used to study cosmic rays. Since then, the telescope has monitored the Apollo 11 moon landing and received the first lunar surface photos from the Soviet Luna 9 probe.
During the Cold War, it doubled as the UK’s early warning defence system against long-range missiles. Currently, the site operates the e-MERLIN array, utilising seven telescopes to capture high-resolution images of space.
The government agency which provides £2.8m to help fund Jodrell Bank Observatory has announced this money will be withdrawn at the end of next tax year. Jodrell Bank Observatory is owned and managed by the University of Manchester and is a world-leading science research institute, with scientists working at the cutting edge of modern astrophysics.
The University of Manchester is now exploring options to stop Jodrell Bank from closing, which would happen on 1 April, 2028.
