Lime Tree Planetarium
The largest building on site at Lime Tree Farm is the barn. No longer used for storing hay, it needed a new lease of life. In early 2019 we were granted planning permission to convert it.
Between 2020 and 2023, volunteers restored, built and installed a number of features within the barn to make it in to a usable visitors centre for all members of the public.
At its centre is a 6.5 metre fully immersive theatre which can be used as a classroom, lecture theatre, but primarily as a planetarium to compliment the on site observatories. Alongside this there is an exhibition area and refreshment facilities.
Initial rendering of the proposed Planetarium - 2018
The Planetarium under construction - 12 / 2020
We are now able to host groups of up to 25 people on a mixture of cinema seating, standard seating and beanbags on the floor, with underfloor heating.
Updated render of the planetarium gallery - 07 / 2021
Updated render of the auditorium - 07 / 2021
This is a photo of how the immersive theatre and planetarium looks now that it's complete. The 6.5 metre diameter hemispherical dome is projected on to using a state of the art high resolution digital projector. It can simulate many scientific environments and display films from around the world shot in full-dome format.
Who benefits?
Anyone can book to use the unique facilities at Lime Tree Farm. Over the years we have had an amazing array of differing groups.
We’ve had Home Education Groups, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Guides, Astronomical Societies, U3A Groups, Women’s Institutes and Probus Groups to name but a few. Everyone is Welcome!
The Planetarium features programming curated by the British Fulldome Institute, and also with the co-operation of the European Southern Observatory.
