Mount Snever Observatory

Mount Snever Observatory is an observatory built in 1838 by builder J. Dodd for John Wormald. It is constructed from limestone ashlar and is a single cell with a platform at the front, standing approximately 35 feet tall. The structure features a nine-course coped wall and shows evidence of a former staircase on the right side leading to the platform.

The entrance has a board door beneath a massive stone lintel, which is flanked by crude buttresses. Above the door, there is an inscription that reads:

"Here hills and waving groves a scene display
And part admit and part exclude the day
See rich industry smiling on the plains
And peace and plenty tell VICTORIA reigns!
Happy the MAN who to these shades retires
Whom NATURE charms and whom the muse inspires
Who wandering thoughtful in this silent wood
Attends the duties of the wise and good
To observe a mean, be to himself a friend
To follow NATURE and regard his end."

Above this, there is a 3-light fixed window, with evidence of a former tall single-light window that has been blocked. The observatory also features a wooden parapet and coped angle turrets. On the rear facade, there is another inscription that states:

"John Wormald
In the first year of the reign of
Queen Victoria
Caused this observatory to be erected
J Dodds Builder."

At the time of the resurvey, the observatory was disused.