Today’s Object of the Week is an entire building. Ever heard of Wright’s Folly?

A CURIOUS building looking something like a medieval tower house stands proud in a small County Durham village.

The village of Westerton, between Kirk Merrington and Spennymoor, is home to an 18th century observatory, sometimes known as Wright’s Folly.

The observatory was named after Thomas Wright, a famed astronomer.

Wright, a boy with a speech impediment from Byers Green, near Spennymoor, led a fascinating life.

Born on September 22, 1711, his father was a carpenter but could still afford to send him to a private school and then from the age of eight, to King James I Grammar School, in Bishop Auckland.

Aged 14, he became an apprentice to clockmaker Bryan Stobart in Bishop Auckland, .but he fled the town aged 18 following a scandalous affair with a maid..

He joined the crew of a ship, but his first journey to Amsterdam was so rough he decided he was not cut out for life at sea.

Instead, he set up a “mathematicle school” to teach sailors the art of navigation.

After becoming entangled in another unfortunate affair, he rocked up in Sunderland, where he resumed his teaching.

He wrote an almanac – a diary containing information about the phases of the moon and the times of the tides – built sundials, predicted eclipses and compiled his Pannauticon – a book by which a sailor could navigate by the stars anywhere in the world.

He made an enormous brass orrery – a working model of the universe – and then turned his hand to redesigning the gardens of wealthy ladies in stately homes.

His greatest work was published in 1750: An Original Theory Or New Hypothesis of the Universe. It sealed his reputation. He identified the nature of Saturn’s rings, understood the paths of comets and was the first astronomer to describe the universe as disc-shaped, rather like a millstone.

In 1755, he bought his birthplace in Byers Green and he began building a home. Three years later, Thomas went to Westerton, and started work on an observatory based on a design for a circular hilltop folly.

However, he died on February 25, 1786, before it was finished. The observatory was completed after his death and a plaque was added to it in 1950 by Durham University.

The observatory subsequently came to be known as Wright’s Folly and still stands today on the village green of Westerton, solid and curious – reminding us to look to the stars.

* Thanks to David Simpson of England's North East – https://englandsnortheast.co.uk/ – and Chris Lloyd for their help in compiling this feature.