Tower of the Winds

The Tower of the Winds stands on the old Radcliffe Observatory building in Oxford, England. It is an octagonal stone tower topped with figures of Atlas and Hercules supporting a globe. The tower’s eight sides each bear a relief of a Greek wind god, carved by John Bacon the Elder between 1792 and 1794. Inside, three main rooms rise one above the other. The design copies the ancient Tower of the Winds in Athens, built around 100–50 BC by Andronicus of Cyrrhus. The tower forms part of Green Templeton College, one of Oxford University’s colleges. It overlooks the Radcliffe Observatory’s telescope dome and the surrounding Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. This quarter has replaced the former Radcliffe Infirmary with modern university buildings like the Andrew Wiles Mathematical Institute and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. Other nearby structures include the Blavatnik School of Government and the Jericho Health Centre. The Radcliffe Observatory Quarter lies between Somerville College to the south and Green Templeton College to the north. Woodstock Road and Walton Street mark its eastern and western edges. Across Woodstock Road stands St Anne’s College, which shares fine views of the tower. The contrast between the 18th-century observatory and the 21st-century buildings creates a striking setting.