Want a piece of scientific history? The former home of Joseph Priestley, who discovered oxygen, is on the market
A house that forms a vital piece of scientific history is on the market. It is the former home of Joseph Priestley, the scientist and radical thinker who discovered oxygen while working as a librarian for the Earl of Shelburne.
Priestley lived at the property in the 1770s, after writing treatises on Unitarianism and a book about electricity – and inventing soda water.
He made the discovery in 1774 in a lab built specially for him by the Earl on his country pile Bowood House, in Calne, Wiltshire.
The famous experiment created oxygen by heating up mercuric oxide, before testing it on a mouse and then himself. He described the then unknown substance as being “five or six times better than common air for the purpose of respiration”.
Priestley House was on the Earl’s land, but now sits in the charming village near some of the best schools in the area.
The family home, named after the polymath, is arranged over four floors and has been carefully renovated, keeping period features such as exposed beams and sash windows.
It has seven bedrooms and four reception rooms, each with big proportions and homely details such as an Aga and a totally handmade kitchen. The basement has rooms that offer opportunities for a studio or a snug.
Outside, there is a large walled garden, a sun terrace, a lawned area complete with hot tub, and beyond there are many mature specimen trees, all overlooked by a conservatory.
The property is on the market for £1.25 million with Carter Jonas (01672 484107; carterjonas.co.uk).
