A pilgrimage to Much Hoole

Small church in rural Lancashire records groundbreaking moment in astronomy

Top left: one of several stained glass windows at the church dedicated to Jeremiah Horrocks. The inscription translates as "oh, most grateful spectacle, the realization of so many ardent desires". Also pictured is a commemorative tapestry, bronze sculpture and stone inscription celebrating Horrocks' achievement.

During a recent ‘staycation’ in the UK I made a point of visiting the church of St. Michael’s in Much Hoole, Lancashire – only around an hour away from SKAO HQ by car.

The building’s stained-glass windows celebrate the first recorded observation of the transit of Venus – a rare celestial event when the planet of Venus passes between the Sun and Earth.

The observation was made by Jeremiah Horrocks from his nearby home at Carr House, Much Hoole, in December 1639.

The house is still privately owned, so the church – where Horrocks worked as a curate – remains the best place for anyone seeking to make a pilgrimage to the site of this groundbreaking achievement, which is seen by many as the birth of modern astronomy in Britain.

Simultaneously, Horrocks’ friend and correspondent William Crabtree recorded the transit from his home in Broughton, near Manchester.

Both were followers of the astronomy of Johannes Kepler and, along with others including Leeds scientist William Gascoigne, formed a group known as "Nos Keplari" (We Keplerians).

Horrocks focussed the Sun through a telescope onto a piece of paper and observed the transit for around 30 minutes during a break in the cloud. His and Crabtree’s observations were important for helping determine the size of the Solar System.

As well as the stained glass, the church features various transit-related curiosities, including tapestries and a bronze sculpture of Horrocks.

Transits of Venus occur in a pattern that repeats itself every 243 years, with two transits that are eight years apart, separated by breaks of 121.5 and 105.5 years.

The last pairs of transits occurred on 8 June 2004 and 5/6 June 2012. The next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and 8 December 2125.

Alas, the chance for any of us to witness another transit of Venus has therefore elapsed.

Though, as Horrocks himself wrote:

Thy return posterity shall witness, years must roll away, but then at length the splendid sight again shall greet our distant children’s eyes.

And who knows, perhaps the SKA telescopes will still be functioning to observe the next?