Tower of the Winds (Oxford)

The tower is based on the ancient and smaller Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, built c.100–50 BC by Andronicus of Cyrrhus for the purpose of measuring time.

[1] It is of octagonal stone construction, with eight relief images of Greek mythological wind gods at the top of each side of the tower, carved by John Bacon the Elder in 1792–4, copying those in Athens.

On the top are Atlas and Hercules supporting a globe in white, also by John Bacon.

The reliefs of the signs of the zodiac above the windows on the first floor are made of Coade stone by J. C. F. Rossi.

The Tower of the Winds is situated in prominent view just to the north of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ), an area for Oxford University departments including the Blavatnik School of Government, and south of Observatory Street, named after its former use as an observatory.