Observatory House on Windsor Road was the home and working observatory of William and Caroline Herschel from 1786 until William's death in 1822. This is where William built his famous 40-foot reflecting telescope — at the time the largest in the world — and where Caroline independently discovered several comets, becoming one of the first women to receive official scientific recognition.
The original house was demolished in 1963, a loss that architectural historians still mourn. A small plaque marks the site, and Herschel Park, a public garden immediately behind the site, was created partly in commemoration. The park contains a modern replica of the telescope's mounting. For all that Slough is mocked as a place without history, few English towns can claim to be the site of a discovery that changed our understanding of the solar system.