Jodrell Bank nominated as Unesco world heritage site

Government puts forward earliest surviving radio astronomy observatory for 2019 honour

The giant telescopes of Jodrell Bank, and the scruffy buildings surrounding them in which discoveries were made that helped change the understanding of the universe, have been nominated by the British government as a Unesco world heritage site.

The observatory, part of the University of Manchester, was founded in 1945 when Sir Bernard Lovell moved his laboratory from the murk and radio interference of the city to the clearer skies of Cheshire. It is known worldwide for its pioneering work, and is now the earliest surviving radio astronomy observatory, including structures on the still-working site from every phase of the development of the science.