OXYGEN was first discovered at Bowood House 243 years ago next week and a new exhibition tells the story of the scientist who made the ground-breaking revelation in his lab there during the 18th Century.

The ‘Priestley & Patronage’ exhibition, curated by Bowood archivist Jo Johnston, tells the story of how Dr Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen and nitrous oxide at Bowood in the 1770s, and put CO2 into water to make it last longer on sea voyages, in turn inventing the first ever fizzy drinks.

Mrs Johnston said: “Dr Priestley’s discovery of oxygen gas, on August 1, 1774, was a huge event in scientific history and is one of Bowood’s biggest claims to fame, but it’s quite a well-kept secret.

“This is an important exhibition because Priestley did the best work of his life at Bowood and made big discoveries that were at the forefront of modern science. We can blame him for fizzy drinks and laughing gas, which are now used every day and they started here in his lab at Bowood House.”

Dr Priestley was employed by Bowood owner, Lord Shelburne, from 1773 to 1780 and was given a house in Calne and a salary of £250 – about £35,000 – to carry out his experiments at Bowood, be a companion to Lord Shelburne and to help educate his sons.

During work investigating gases Priestley isolated oxygen, nitrous oxide, nitrogen, ammonia, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, and became the first to publish the discoveries in his 1774 book, Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air.

The exhibition will be open daily until November 1.