The Coats Observatory, 49 Oakshaw Street, Paisley is a Grade A listed building in the Renfrewshire local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 26 February 1971. Observatory. 1 related planning application.
The Coats Observatory, 49 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- WRENN ID
- endless-basalt-martin
- Grade
- A
- Local Planning Authority
- Renfrewshire
- Constituency
- Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP: Johanna Baxter (Lab)
- Country
- Scotland
- Date first listed
- 26 February 1971
- Type
- Observatory
- Address
- The Coats Observatory, 49 Oakshaw Street, Paisley, PA1 2DE
- OS grid reference
- NS 478 640
- Coordinates
- 55.84569, -4.43097
- Source
- Historic Environment Scotland listing
Description
The Coats Observatory, located at 49 Oakshaw Street in Paisley, was designed by architect John Honeyman and completed in 1884. This building features a square tower constructed with channeled ashlar stone above a plinth, leading up to an impost moulding that frames a voussoired arched surround for a recessed door. The upper parts of the tower are finished in polished ashlar, while a Doric frieze and mutule cornice support a balustrade. At the top, there is a circular observation drum with oculi, a cornice, and a copper dome. An octagonal, domed turret is attached to the structure. To the left, there is a two-storey, two-bay side wing that is set slightly back from the main tower. The ground floor of this wing mirrors the tower's detailing below the impost, featuring a round-headed doorpiece and a sash window. On the first floor, there are two sash windows with an eaves band, cornice, and blocking course. The building is topped with a piended slate roof that includes an end stack.
Local climate
The Coats Observatory, 49 Oakshaw Street, Paisley sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,280 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 86% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 50 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 91% of listed buildings. Of these, 27 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings
Nearby listed buildings
- 51 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- 46 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- Manse, 57 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- Art Gallery And Library, Museum, 68 High Street, Paisley
- Peter Brough District Nurses' Home, 56 Oakshaw, Paisley
- 35 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- Church Of Scotland, Orr Square, Paisley
- 60 Oakshaw Street, Paisley
- 76 High Street, Paisley
- 7 Orr Square, Paisley