Moreton House, in Dorset, is the seat of the Frampton family. In the middle of the eighteenth century, it was home to James Frampton who remodelled the house and created new plantations and pleasure grounds. When he died in 1784 his friend Captain John Houlton erected an obelisk on the estate to ‘perpetuate a worthy and much-lamented character’.

The designer of the obelisk is known to be James Hamilton (1748-1829) of Weymouth. Little is known of his career in the years before the monument was erected, but he went on to be highly regarded in his home town. In the 1790s he described himself as ‘Builder and Stone Mason’ and, capitalising on Weymouth’s popularity as a healthy seaside retreat, he was also a ‘Proprietor of Bathing Machines’. He designed houses and a church in Weymouth, and his name is prominent on the 1809 monument to George III in the town.

Moreton is about 11 miles north-east of Weymouth. The obelisk stands at the junction of a network of rides in Fir Hill plantation, which had been laid out by James Frampton (1769-1854) as part of his ‘various and great Improvements’. The monument is 77 feet high (23.5m) and is topped with an elegant urn, which is itself almost 10 feet (3m) tall: this was carved from a block of Portland stone ‘near 4 tons in weight’ (4064 kg). A copper bar connects the urn and the shaft to provide stability, and a lightning conductor was in place from the very start to help avert damage by thunderbolt – an occupational hazard for obelisks.

Although the obelisk carries the date of Frampton’s death, 1784, work was not completed until the autumn of 1786. A full description of the obelisk was given in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1787, and was accompanied by ‘an accurate Engraving’.

The article also quoted in full the inscriptions on the pedestal. On the north side, facing the house, was an inscription in English:

This Obelisk was erected
In the year 1784,
By Captain JOHN HOULTON,
As a publick Teftimony
Of his Gratitude and Refpect
For the Memory
Of his much-efteemed
And lamented Friend
The late JAMES FRAMPTON Efq.
Of this Place.

On the opposite face was an inscription in Latin celebrating Frampton’s creation of the landscape and noting the site of the obelisk as one of his favourite spots on the estate.

Frampton’s children thought his estate improvements and charitable works were all the monument he needed, as detailed on the simple plaque to his memory in the church dedicated to St Nicholas. In building the obelisk Captain John Houlton clearly wished to make a more prominent statement of his admiration for his friend.

The obelisk could be seen from miles around, and was a landmark noted by tourists exploring Dorset. In the nineteenth century, like many prominent landscape ornaments, it was a meeting place for the local hunt. Although the woodland has matured, a vista to the obelisk from Moreton House is maintained.

The obelisk has been in a very poor condition for many years now, and it is listed on Historic England’s Register of Buildings at Risk (it is a scheduled monument rather than a listed building).

As the obelisk decayed, the inscribed plaques were moved to the gate of the village cemetery, a short walk from the church, to ensure their survival.

Moreton’s church, commissioned by James Frampton in the 1770s, is a delight both inside and out. After admiring the very attractive and unusual exterior one goes inside to be amazed by the extraordinary light that flows through the clear glass windows. The church was badly damaged by bombing in 1940 and during the restoration green glass panes were fitted.

These were not popular, so the enlightened congregation commissioned the glass artist Laurence Whistler (1912-2000) to design new panes of engraved glass. These were installed between 1955 and 1987, although, after some controversy about the design, the window featuring Judas was not actually installed until 2013.

James Hamilton created another landscape ornament of a very different kind. In 1808 he designed the chalk figure of George III on horseback that is a feature of the hillside at Osmington, near Weymouth.

The obelisk is on private land, but can be seen from the road into Moreton. The church is very welcoming. The Osmington horse can be seen from the A353 north-east of Weymouth (although at the time of writing it is easy to miss as the chalk has washed away and it is a grey shape on the hillside).

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If you have driven on the M40 in Warwickshire, you might have caught a glimpse of this obelisk in the former parkland of Umberslade Hall. In the middle of the eighteenth century Umberslade was home to Thomas Archer, who commissioned this obelisk. It was originally topped with an eye-catching golden star which, sadly, is long gone but it is known from old photographs.

The obelisk was erected in 1748-49 to the design of the local architect William Hiorne. It carries no inscription, which means that historians have had to ponder what it might commemorate. The most likely suggestion is that Archer (1695-1768) built it to mark his elevation to the peerage as Baron Archer in 1747. Or perhaps it simply had the double purpose of being a ‘striking object’ from the house, and a reminder to those walking or riding in the park to stop and look back at the mansion and grounds, the view being ‘good from the obelisk’.

Lady Luxborough, of nearby Barrells, took a keen interest in the architectural enterprises of her landed neighbours, and in 1749 wrote to a friend that she was dining with Lord Archer and intended to judge for herself how the obelisk looked from the house – another of her acquaintance had told her it was too tapered to have a good effect. Lady Luxborough also noted that Archer’s obelisk was to carry a finial in the form of a gilded globe and cross.

The ‘cross’, as erected, was more accurately described in a contemporary fragment as a ‘large Star of Lead Gilt’, which would have glistened in the sun, making the obelisk even more of an eye-catcher.

The estate was sold in 1825 by the famed auctioneer George Robins, who is remembered for his sales patter. After the Umberslade sale one paper wrote that they would have to paraphrase his opening remarks, or it would ‘occupy a considerable portion of this column’. Robins became wealthy from his trade and was celebrated as:

George Robins, of auction renown,
Who made a great fortune by knocking things down.

Umberslade Park, complete with ‘Obelisk’, was knocked down to Mr Edward Bolton King. He stayed until 1846 when a change of occupier must have led to a number of famous faces gazing upon the obelisk from the windows of the mansion. The hall became a Hydropathic Establishment under the direction of Dr Edward Johnson, and his patients for the water cure included Alfred Tennyson, Florence Nightingale and Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.

The lack of inscription gave the community the chance to add their own fanciful histories to the structure. In 1929 the local vicar wrote that one of his parishioners was certain that Lord Archer’s favourite hunter was buried underneath the obelisk, whilst another old resident was convinced it commemorated a member of Lord Archer’s family who had taken their own life. Another source notes that the obelisk is supposed to mark the spot where Warwickshire’s last coven of witches gathered.

The obelisk still carried its sphere and star finial in 1966, but by 1974 the star could be viewed at closer quarters, as it lay crumpled on the ground. Its current whereabouts are unknown: hopefully it is tucked in the corner of a store somewhere, but as it was made of lead the Flâneuse fears it is long gone.

The obelisk remains an eye-catcher, but not for the inhabitants of Umberslade Hall. The mansion was divided into apartments after being sold by the Muntz family, owners of the estate since the late nineteenth century, who continue to own much of the parkland. The M40 cuts between the mansion and the obelisk, and mature trees block the view from the hall. So it is motorists who get the prime view, albeit fleetingly and without the option to linger and appreciate it.  You can however leave the motorway and head for Pound House Lane, from where a footpath gets you close to the obelisk (grade II).

Although the base and lower half of the needle were swamped with ivy in the early years of this century, the vegetation has since been cleared and the obelisk looks rather fine.

The Flâneuse acknowledges the work of Dr Michael Cousins, whose article on the early history of the obelisk appeared in Follies (the magazine of the Folly Fellowship) in Spring 2006 (No. 63).

Thank you for reading. As ever, your thoughts are very welcome. Simply scroll down to the comments box at the foot of the page to get in touch.

Sir Richard Worsley inherited his father’s baronetcy, and the Appuldurcombe estate on the Isle of Wight, in 1768. The following year set off on the Grand Tour, and on his return in 1770 he turned his attention to remodelling the house and park. In the next few years he erected two eye-catchers to be seen from the mansion: an obelisk and a dramatic hilltop sham ruin called Cook’s Castle.

The origin of the name Cook’s Castle is uncertain, but it is named as such on a 1773 estate plan. In the eighteenth century there was no good road to the folly, and in 1793 Henry Penruddocke Wyndham was frustrated by the effort that was required to reach the ruins. He concluded that the sham castle did not ‘deserve such exertions’, as the building was too ‘regular’, that is it was too neat to be a genuine ruin. His mistake seems to have been to view the folly at close quarters: Sir Richard Worsley (1751-1805) himself described the sham in his History of the Isle of Wight, published in 1781, and makes it clear that the ‘ruin of an ancient castle’ was intended as ‘a point of view from the house’. Maps from the middle of the nineteenth century also show it as a series of three towers connected by a curtain wall, but as an engraving from the same period illustrates, the central tower had by then collapsed.

Visitors who looked to the folly from the mansion were impressed, and even the oft-critical commentator on landscape Revd William Gilpin found much to praise. He described Appuldurcombe House as ‘magnificent’, and thought the grounds equally impressive. Cook’s Castle was, he wrote, ‘well executed and […] well placed’. A traveller in 1798 noted the ‘modern ruin’, and thought it had a ‘better effect from the house than is usual for such buildings to have’.

A century later, with improved roads and the coming of the railway, Cook’s Castle and its ‘picturesque grounds’ had become a favourite picnic spot for excursionists and society outings. Few were fooled by the supposed ancient ruin, and John Gwilliam expressed his feelings in verse in 1845:

There was of course a downside to the popularity of the spot, which was featured in countless guidebooks, and by 1887 there were concerns that the folly was being damaged by vandals. The sham ruin quickly became a genuine one, and by the middle of the twentieth century there was nothing at all to be seen. Only a stone now marks the approximate spot where Cook’s Castle once stood.

Sir Richard also erected a ‘Cornish granite obelisk, near seventy feet high’ to the memory of Sir Robert Worsley 4th bart, who died in 1747 (the fourth baronet died without issue and the Appuldurcombe estate was left to a cousin who was Sir Richard’s grandfather). Built on a ‘bare down’, the obelisk was completed in 1774 and commemorated Sir Robert’s ‘long and exemplary life’, and Sir Richard’s gratitude that he had succeeded to the estate.

The monument was visible from miles around, but this exposed spot made it vulnerable to the elements. Having been repaired after a lightning strike in 1831, it was ‘blown down’ in a gale in December 1836.

The lower stages of the obelisk were restored in 1983, resulting in a stubby little monument, which is no longer a great landmark and eye-catcher…

The only major landscape ornament to survive at Appuldurcombe today is the elegant Freemantle Gate (grade II*), described in c.1779 as a ‘handsome Gateway of the Ionic Order’.

It is not clear who designed the obelisk and folly castle, but the antiquarian Sir Richard is likely to have played a part. A possible candidate is William Donn, who worked for Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown before setting up on his own: he was paid almost £4,000 for work at Appuldurcombe between 1774 and 1782. Donn was crossing to the Isle of Wight in 1777 and chatted to a fellow traveller. The tourist noted in his journal that Donn was working for Sir Richard, and described him as being ’employed in undertaking to build Houses and to lay out Gardens for Gentlemen’ (thanks to the Garden Historian for this brilliant reference).

Capability Brown himself did visit Appuldurcombe in October 1779, and sent a plan for improvements the following summer. Sadly Sir Richard’s accounts of work on the house and park are not known to survive, so many questions about who did what, and when, remain unanswered, but the sham castle and obelisk pre-date Brown’s plan.

Appuldurcombe House (grade I) is in the care of English Heritage and can be visited in the summer season. It was a roofless shell for many years but has been partially restored as a wedding venue. There’s more here.

There is a comments box at the foot of the page and your thoughts are always welcome. Thanks for reading.

In 1972 Mariga Guinness, or Mrs Desmond Guinness as she was known in more formal times, wrote an article on follies for Ireland of the Welcomes, a publication produced by the Irish Tourist Board to promote Ireland as a holiday destination. Launched in 1952, it is still published today and describes itself as ‘the largest and longest-running Irish interest magazine in the world’. Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach (1932-1989), known as Mariga, married Desmond Guinness in 1954 and they moved to Ireland the following year. Mrs Guinness loved Ireland, and threw herself into preserving the architectural heritage – she and her husband co-founded the Irish Georgian Society in 1958. The couple first rented the Georgian mansion Carton House, and later bought Leixlip Castle, both home to garden ornaments, so Mrs Guinness was well-placed to write in praise of follies.

Accompanying the text is a delicious map which was drawn by Jan de Fouw (1929-2015), a Dutch-born graphic designer and illustrator who settled in Ireland in 1951. From 1952 to 1996 he was the freelance designer of Ireland of the Welcomes. As well as featuring in the magazine the map was published as a stand-alone guide to Irish follies, complete with a county-by-county list of what to see. Mrs Guinness didn’t give exact locations believing, as the Flâneuse does, that ‘Folly-hunting must be regarded as an exploratory adventure’.

Mrs Guinness opens her article with the assertion that ‘there are more follies to the acre in Ireland than anywhere else in the world’. The Flâneuse doubts that anyone has ever tried to prove or disprove this bold claim, but there is no denying that Ireland has both quantity and quality. Mrs Guinness thought that ‘folly-hunting appears to be a totally neglected facet of Irish travel’ and as Ireland of the Welcomes was mainly aimed at the U.S. market, one hopes that American tourists took up her challenge to explore Ireland’s arbours, grottoes, towers and shell-houses.

The first folly Mrs Guinness mentions in her text is the Conolly Folly in County Kildare. This unique structure was built by Katherine Conolly (1662-1752, born Conyngham) in 1740 to terminate a vista, and to provide work and food for the local population in a time of need.

It is attributed to the architect Richard Castle (d.1751) and stood on high ground in the Castletown demesne – or rather it stood near the Castletown estate. Apparently Mrs Conolly (widow of William, reputedly the richest commoner in Ireland) discovered too late that she didn’t own the plot on which the obelisk was built: it was just over the Castletown demesne boundary, and was actually on Carton estate land. Marked on a mid-eighteenth century map as ‘Obelisk’, it soon became known as the Conolly Folly or Conolly’s Folly.

Carton was Mariga Guinness’s first Irish home, and although she moved to other properties it would become her last: she was buried beneath the folly in 1989. Her memory lives on in the many properties and follies she actively campaigned to save, and in the ongoing work of the Irish Georgian Society. And 52 years after it was first published, her article recently guided the Folly Flâneuse on a fabulous flit around some of the follies of Ireland (watch this space).

The Conolly Folly is now a national monument in the care of the state. It was among the first buildings to be restored by the Irish Georgian Society in 1962, and was adopted as their logo. There is public access, but unlike the contented visitors in the early photograph above, you will not be able to get up close: ugly security fencing protects the monument from vandals.

The view to the Conolly Folly is now obstructed by mature trees, but the tip of the obelisk can be seen peeking above the verdure from some distance.

For a wonderful tribute to Mariga Guinness see https://theirishaesthete.com/2014/05/05/marvellous-mariga/

There’s more on Ireland of the Welcomes here https://irelandofthewelcomes.com

Regular readers might remember that the Flâneuse is a huge fan of artist Ed Kluz. If you are anywhere near Bath before the 22nd of June go and see his new sculptural pieces at Berdoulat at 8 St Margaret’s Buildings in the city centre. Here’s a taste of what you might see, and more works can be seen at https://www.edkluz.co.uk

Thank you for reading. As ever, your thoughts are very welcome. Please scroll down to the comments box to get in touch. Please note that only your name will appear – your email address remains private.

In February 1992 the North Wales Weekly News carried its usual list of planning applications. Among them was an announcement that Bodysgallen Hall Hotel wished to convert a barn and stable into accommodation, and to erect a new ‘leisure building, tower folly and obelisk’. No objections were received, and permission was granted by Aberconwy Council.

In 1980 Bodysgallen Hall, former seat of the Mostyn and Wynn families, had become part of the small Historic House Hotels group, established by Richard Broyd. The house, gardens and estate buildings were restored, and Broyd wished to erect an obelisk as a ‘decorative asset to the landscape’. Plans were drawn up by his architect Eric Throssell, and both the stone and the stonemason, Henry Wilson, were local.

But as work got underway in autumn 1992 locals claimed that they hadn’t been properly informed of the plans, and a vociferous campaign was launched demanding that the Obelisk be demolished. There were genuine concerns, including that the planning officers had not realised that Ffrith Hill was a Site of Specific Scientific Interest.

But among the odder complaints was the fact that the Obelisk ‘dominated the landscape’ – a strange criticism as obelisks are not usually shy and retiring types, and generally prefer to hog the limelight on an eminence. Even more bizarre was the opponent who suggested that placing the Obelisk near the edge of a former quarry encouraged men to ‘urinate over the cliff into the garden of a house 150 feet below’. Reporting this in the local paper, a journalist suggested that such a feat would merit entry in the Guinness Book of Records requiring as it did a ‘jet of some 25 feet’.

Meanwhile Richard Broyd was adamant that the correct procedures had been followed and he was prepared to fight, telling the Daily Telegraph that ‘he who builds an obelisk has to defend it’.

In brief, the council began to get cold feet after the anti-obelisk campaigners made a complaint of maladministration, claiming the council should never have granted planning permission. Despite a barrister assuring the councillors that their decision was robust, and that Mr Broyd had followed the correct procedures, the Planning Committee voted to demolish the Obelisk. The matter then went to the full council and the proposal was defeated by just one vote. On 16 September 1993 the local paper ran the story under the succinct headline of ‘Obelisk is staying’.

There had been support for the Obelisk too, and some who had been concerned later admitted admiration for the completed structure, which stands 19.5 metres high. But some resentment remained, and there are locals who will tell you dark tales of a plot to blow the obelisk to pieces. Even now, some 30 years on, the structure seems destined never to be mentioned as anything but the ‘controversial obelisk’.

The Folly Flâneuse took the Uncouth Companion to Bodysgallen Hall as a birthday treat soon after the obelisk was completed (he having long since learned that such jaunts had one, or more, ulterior motives) and walked up to the Obelisk. The photo’s from that pre-digital age have long since faded away, but this little model of the Obelisk, bought at the hotel, sits in the study as a memento of the trip. And of course a return visit was required in order to snap the shots needed for this post.

In all of the fuss about the Obelisk the little Gothic Tower, designed in the same period, has been overlooked. A sham ruin sits on raised ground in the woodland, and a climb up to the rooftop viewing platform reveals why this site was chosen. There’s lovely vista to the obelisk  – the only spot in the gardens from where it can be seen.

Richard Broyd had always intended that his hotel group would pass to the National Trust, and for all profits to benefit the charity. The three properties (the others being Middlethorpe Hall near York and Hartwell House near Aylesbury) were handed over in 2008.

Pabo Bach, once home to one of the most vocal objectors to the obelisk, is now a holiday cottage where you can enjoy dramatic views of the former quarry with the obelisk perched on the precipice.

The Obelisk can be seen from the A55 and the Royal Welsh Way leading into Llandudno, as well as from across the estuary in Conwy, and there is public access. The Gothic Tower may only be seen by guests at Bodysgallen Hall Hotel.

For Bodysgallen Hall and the other Historic House Hotels see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/hotels/historic-house-hotels

For Pabo Bach see https://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/cottage/93622-pabo-bach

Thank you for reading. Your thoughts and recollections are always welcome – please scroll down to the comments box to get in touch. Only your name will appear, your contacts details remain private. 

In 1833 Other Archer Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth, died. Almost immediately there were calls to erect a monument in his honour, and a public subscription was raised. With funds in place, the foundation stone was laid in May 1834. The chosen site was on Bromsgrove Lickey, a prominent eminence which would ensure that the obelisk would be an ornament to the landscape and visible from miles around.

Other Archer Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth (1789-1833) had a seat at Hewell Grange, in Worcestershire, which had been in the family since the middle of the 16th century, and he seems to have been well-respected locally. Announcing his death in London in July 1833, having just turned 44, Aris’s Birmingham Gazette wrote that the ‘sudden removal of the Noble earl in the midst of life and usefulness, is no less a loss to his county than to the extensive circle and neighbourhood in which he moved’.

The appeal for funds to build a monument was led by members of his former regiment, the Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry, but the public were encouraged to donate. By January 1834 about £800 had been collected, and the committee agreed to procure designs and estimates (almost £1000 would be collected in total). The site, on the late earl’s land, was chosen for its ‘elevation and contiguity to the Hewell demesne’.

The foundation stone of the obelisk was laid by Lord Lyttleton of Hagley Hall, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, on Thursday 15 May 1834 and a print was issued showing the proposed design. Lyttleton recorded the occasion in his diary, noting the ‘pretty’ design of the monument.

William Bain designed a medal to commemorate the occasion with the inscription Plaudente et Lucente Comitatu – with the approbation and honour of his county. The laying of the foundation stone is noted on the north side of the obelisk, and on the south is the following inscription:

Loudon’s Architectural Magazine announced that the obelisk was to stand 91 feet and 6 inches tall, and was to be built of Anglesey marble. The magazine gave the architect as John Hanson, and the contractor as John Welch, but Hanson sounds suspiciously like the architect Joseph Aloysius Hansom, and the Worcester Journal of 15 May 1834 confirms that the obelisk was designed by Hansom and his partner Edward Welch. Their practice had won the competition to design the new Birmingham Town Hall in 1830, and that too was under construction in Anglesey stone in May 1834 when Hansom and Welch were dramatically declared bankrupt. At that point the financially embarrassed Hansom and Welch seem to have been quietly expunged from the records (the John Welch commissioned to build the monument was Edward’s brother).

The site was within a plantation of larches and firs, some of which were felled to create a broad grassy swathe which allowed ‘as good a general view of the obelisk as possible’. Lord Lyttleton’s diary suggests that the original plan was to have two broad rides to ‘shew the obelisk on its four faces’, but the idea was clearly abandoned.

Throughout the 19th century visitors were welcomed, but only if permission had been granted. In August 1872 the British Medical Association organised a ‘Worcestershire Excursion’ and having seen the ‘splendid gardens’ at Hewell Grange they went via the private drive through Lickey Woods to see the monument. Elijah Walton’s 19th century view captures the romance of the ride.

In the first half of the twentieth century land at Lickey was gradually acquired by Birmingham Corporation. The hills became a popular recreation place for the people of Birmingham and the surrounding area, with trams bringing huge numbers of visitors out of the prosperous, but polluted, city: ‘Lickey for Health, Birmingham for Wealth’ as an old saying goes.

The crumbling grade II listed monument has been patched up over the years, and in the 1950s steel bands were fitted to hold the column together – the Anglesey stone blocks were becoming detached from the hollow brick core. It was fully restored in 1995, when there was controversy over the costs. Although technically within the Hereford and Worcester boundary, the £85,000 costs were largely met by Birmingham City Council as owners of the land. ‘OUTRAGEOUS!’ hollered the headline in the Birmingham Mail when it was revealed that the project had cost ‘cash-strapped Brum’ double the expected sum of £41,000.

Sadly the vistas cut through the woods have long since become overgrown, and the obelisk stands in a clearing encircled by trees. There are no longer views over the countryside, and it has lost its function as an elegant eye-catcher. A third painting by Elijah Walton depicts the lost view from the obelisk, and shows that the Flâneuse was not the only one to visit on a dreary day

The Lickey Hills Country Park remains a popular local attraction https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20089/parks/406/lickey_hills_country_park

And this website will tell you all you need to know about the area https://thelickeyhills.uk

Thanks to Michael Cousins for sharing the extracts from Lord Lyttleton’s diary

… and thanks to you for reading. If you would like to share any thoughts or memories please scroll down to the contact box at the foot of the page to get in touch.

The Battle of Evesham took place on a site near the town in 1265, but it was several centuries later that two memorials to the hero of the hour, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, were erected. In 1842 Edward Rudge, a civic figure, botanist and antiquary built a tower and obelisk in the grounds of his home, and dedicated them to the battle and the earl.

Rudge (1763-1846) inherited the family seat in the abbey grounds at Evesham in 1790. In 1817 he completed work on a new house in the gothic style, which he called Abbey Manor House. In the gardens were fragments of Evesham Abbey (the bell tower that stands today was the only substantial survivor after the dissolution of the monasteries). Rudge had excavated the site, and ‘architectural and monumental remains of the great abbey’ were moved to his home for ‘safe preservation’.

The grounds of Abbey Manor House contained the site of the Battle of Evesham, and to commemorate this Rudge erected the tower and an obelisk. The tower was built in 1842, and the obelisk is said to have been erected in 1845 (unlike the tower it does not carry a date, and 1845 seems to be the date at which it was first mentioned in print). By the 1840s Rudge was an elderly man –  he died in September 1846 aged 83 – and it seems likely that his son, Edward John Rudge (1792-1861), also an antiquary, might have played a part.

A plaque on the tower is now badly eroded, but the inscription declares that:

THIS TOWER
WAS ERECTED IN THE YEAR MDCCCXLII
TO THE MEMORY OF
SIMON DE MONTFORT
EARL OF LEICESTER
THE FATHER AND FOUNDER OF
THE BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS
WHO WAS SLAIN AT THE BATTLE OF
EVESHAM IN THE YEAR MCCLXV

The attractive crenellated tower, on high ground overlooking the river Avon, was visible beyond the bounds of Rudge’s estate and within a couple of years a local historian wrote that ‘We need scarcely add that this conspicuous object forms an ornamental as well as praiseworthy feature in the surrounding landscape’. Presumably it was admired, for in 1866 it was described by the Cotswolds Naturalists Club as the ‘celebrated Leicester Tower’.

The obelisk commemorates the Battle of Evesham, and the four sides of the base feature a plaque with lines from Michael Drayton’s epic poem ‘Poly-Olbion’; an inscription announcing that this spot was the site of the battle (disputed by historians) and a carved panel of arms and armour with the word Victoria.

The fourth side has a wonderful bas-relief illustrating the moment in the battle when King Henry was not recognised, and was almost killed by royal forces. The obelisk stands in a small formal garden, and in the second half of 19th century was often visited by groups of historians and antiquarians. One member of the British Archaeological Society was not impressed when he visited in 1875: he dismissed the obelisk as ‘tastless’ and the decoration as ‘feeble’.

In around 1913 the tower featured as number 9 in the series of 50 ‘Battlefields of Britain’ cigarette cards issued with Smith’s ‘Studio’ Cigarettes.

As the cigarette card shows, by the early 19th century the tower was neglected and smothered with ivy. The Abbey Manor estate was renovated in the late 1990s, with the house being restored and new homes built in the grounds. The tower – by then listing noticeably – was straightened and stabilised for the developers, WeatherArk, and public access to the tower and obelisk was enabled via a concessionary footpath. Tower and obelisk are both listed at grade II.

Later generations of the Rudge family loaned many items connected to Evesham Abbey to the Almonry Museum, where they can still be seen today https://www.almonryevesham.org

Thank you for reading. Your thoughts, memories and further information are always welcome – scroll down to the foot of the page to comment.

Obelisks might not seem as exciting as some of the quirkier landscape ornaments, but this one began a particularly interesting life in around 1732. Two hundred years later it was one of a group of monuments from Wrest Park in Bedfordshire that was sold to the wealthy socialite and politician Sir Philip Sassoon, and taken to his seat at Trent Park in Middlesex. There each was carefully placed in the park, and the largest, this substantial obelisk, was re-erected to terminate a new vista cut through the trees.

To begin at the beginning, the obelisk was first erected at Wrest in the 1730s. According to the notes in an album of Views of Wrest dated 1831, the inscription on the obelisk read ‘To the Memory of the birth of George Earl of Harold, son of the Duke of Kent by his second wife Sophia’. George was born in 1732 but died in infancy, leaving the Duke of Kent without an heir.

A family letter written in 1745 gives the height of the obelisk as 80 feet. It stood on higher ground close to the Bedford Road (now the A6) which borders the estate, and could be ‘seen at a distance of several miles round’. In 1797 the obelisk’s lofty position was exploited by the team working on the major trigonometrical survey of England and Wales, and in March 1830 the monument found temporary fame as the finishing post of a horse race. Riders galloped between Harlington Church and the Obelisk with the winner covering the 4 miles in around 17 minutes: the event was hailed in the press as ‘the greatest Steeple Chase ever known’ (and then promptly forgotten).

After this excitement the obelisk then stood quietly in its solitary situation until a chance to travel came its way in the 1930s. Wrest’s then owner, John G. Murray (1864-1954), spent little time at Wrest, and clearly attached no sentimental or cultural value to the memorials. When his attempts to market the estate from 1932 met with little interest, he began to sell the contents, timber and selected monuments to raise cash (even the very wealthy Henry ‘Chips’ Channon concluded Wrest was ‘too expensive to keep up’, although he wrote in 1939 that ‘never have I wanted a house as much as Wrest’).

Sir Philip Sassoon (1888-1939) bought three monuments and removed them to Trent Park: a pyramidal monument dedicated to Henry Duke of Kent, a pineapple-topped column in memory of Jemima Duchess of Kent, and the obelisk. The first two monuments were placed in prominent positions at either end of the great Lime Avenue and the obelisk was re-erected on high ground, at the end of a newly-cut vista, to be seen from the garden front of the house.

The setting of Trent Park was sketched in sales particulars in 1787 as ‘happily placed on rising Ground, and commanding rich and elegant views’ and the estate was considered ‘an enviable Possession for a Man of Fortune and refined Taste’. This was an apt description of Sir Phillip Sasson who took on Trent Park after his father’s death in 1912 (the estate was originally leased but Sir Philip purchased it in 1922).

Sassoon’s expenditure was remembered as ‘lavish and unchecked’, and he completely remodelled the house using mellow red bricks salvaged from the demolition of Devonshire House in London. With these materials, and a rumoured £150,000, he turned an early Victorian pile into a ‘genuine William and Mary house’ and he filled it with the finest furniture, paintings and decorative arts. Sassoon also acquired statues and ornaments from other country houses to decorate his garden.

Trent quickly became famed for the house parties where Sassoon entertained everyone who was anyone in the worlds of high society, politics and entertainment.

In October 1934 George, son of King George V and Queen Mary, was created Duke of Kent in anticipation of his marriage to Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark a month later. As was then common, the new Duke and Duchess were offered the use of country houses in which to spend their honeymoon. Their first stop was Himley Hall in Staffordshire, and on December 12 they moved on to Trent Park. The difference between the two seats did not go unnoticed, with the press describing Himley Hall as ‘a homely house in the old country tradition’ whereas Trent Park was a ‘show place, breathing magnificence, and with practically every item of furnishing a museum piece’.

The story is widely told that Sassoon bought the monuments from Wrest Park and re-erected them at Trent Park to make the Duke and Duchess of Kent feel welcome: the monuments to the 18th century Duke and Duchess are placed to be seen on the approach to the house. This might be true of the two smaller monuments, but the obelisk was not there when the Kents arrived in 1934. Work to take it down did not start until August 1935, and first came the laborious process of erecting scaffolding and carefully numbering each stone so that ‘the monument may be reconstructed exactly in its present form’. It was not until October 1935 that the Times noted that the Obelisk had been ‘recently removed’.

As seen today the inscription differs slightly from that recorded in Views of Wrest in 1831, suggesting that the letters were recut when the obelisk was moved, which would also account for the incorrect date of 1702 instead of 1732.

Trent Park was requisitioned by the Government at the outbreak of the Second World War and became home to the ‘Secret Listeners’, a British intelligence operation (see the link below for the whole fascinating history). After the war the grounds became a public park and the house was used as a teacher training centre and then as a university. The house stood empty for some years before being bought by property developers Berkeley Homes. After some vigorous campaigning the company agreed that the lower floors of the house could be turned into a museum telling the story of Sassoon and the important role of the house in wartime. Work continues to make that plan a reality.

In 1973, with work ongoing to restore the gardens at Wrest, the owners of Trent Park were approached to see if they would ‘relinquish the Duke’s Pyramid and the Duchess’s column’. The obelisk was excluded as ‘too large and difficult to move’ and not as important to the layout of Wrest Gardens. There were complications of ownership between the Greater London Council and the London Borough of Enfield, and locally a campaign  was started to formally object to the removal. The negotiations carried on for a decade before appearing to fizzle out, and the monuments stayed put.

In 1976 the Enfield planning office wrote to the parks department of the G.L.C. to report ‘defacement’ of the obelisk – there had been an attempt to alter the date in the inscription. Was this mindless vandalism or a pedantic folly fanatic attempting to update the incorrect date? The planning officer suggested erecting a fence around the column, but the park manager felt hooligans would just climb any such obstacle and, as he sensibly concluded, ‘wouldn’t it look terrible’.

Today replicas of the two smaller monuments can be seen in the gardens at Wrest, and the obelisk is remembered in a street name in the adjoining village of Silsoe.

Read more about the history and future of Trent Park here https://www.trentparkhouse.org.uk

And for Wrest Park see https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wrest-park/

Thank you for reading, and if you have any thoughts or further information please scroll down to the comments box to get in touch (only your name will appear online, your email address remains private). If you would like a folly story in your inbox each weekend please click on ‘subscribe’. 

On the banks of the river Orwell in Suffolk there once stood a lofty obelisk. It proclaimed to all the filial piety of Charles Berners, who erected it in 1793 in memory of his father, William. At 96 feet tall, and topped with a golden sun, it was a prominent landmark but sadly it came to a sorry end when it was damaged by fire and then demolished in the middle of the 20th century. But as the image above shows, fragments were salvaged and survive today.

William Berners (1709-1783) acquired the Woolverstone (or Wolverstone, Woolverston) estate in 1773 when it was described as being ‘capable of great and immediate improvement’. Berners commissioned a new mansion which was built to the designs of the architect John Johnson. The house was described in 1784 as ‘fine enough’, but it was the hilltop location with views of the river Orwell that gave it ‘all its merit’: the numerous small boats which sailed up and down the river brought to life this ‘superb view’.

After his death his son and heir Charles (c.1734-1815) commissioned the architect Robert Mylne (1733-1811) to design an obelisk in memory of his father. The plan was drawn up early in 1791, and the situation decided in September of the same year, with an Ipswich mason called Edward Tovell given the job of erecting the monument.

The obelisk was square in plan and surmounted with a golden metal ball surrounded by sun-rays (possibly inspired by the obelisk to the Duke of Cumberland in the park at Windsor of 1765 or the one at Stourhead in Wiltshire which was topped with a gilded bronze sun in 1748). But unusually it had a hollow centre which contained a wooden staircase, and presumably the circles near the top of the shaft were peepholes through which to admire the view, although as the engraving above shows the view was pretty impressive even from ground level.

Old postcards record how the obelisk looked, and show it to have been decorated with decorative roundels. These are very likely products of the Coade artificial stone manufactory in Lambeth, as that the company is known to have supplied the huge plaque featuring Diana the huntress which adorns the pediment of the mansion, as well as vases, urns, consoles and capitals. There were two inscriptions which were recorded on a pen and wash drawing by Issac Johnson of Woodbridge.

The first inscription translates as ‘In memory of William Berners Esq., best of fathers and well meriting the building of this obelisk by his son Charles Berners 1793’. The second plaque recorded that William was born on July 10 1709 and died on September 18 1783.

Sadly it was the internal void which brought an end to the obelisk. In July 1943 a fire was started at the foot of the wooden stairs which quickly spread (naval ratings returning from the pub were blamed). Considered beyond repair, the monument was demolished with explosives soon after.

But all was not lost: a few lucky villagers salvaged ornamental fragments which survive in private gardens, including what seem to be some of the Coade stone plaques from the obelisk.

The keen-eyed will have spotted two further landscape curiosities in the earlier illustrations to this post, both of which were once part of the Woolverstone estate. The map shows Freston Tower (top left), a ‘tall, imposing and picturesque bit of Tudor brickwork’ now a holiday home in the care of the Landmark Trust.

The engraving of Woolverstone Park shows a small ornamental building (bottom right): this ‘pretty little lodge’ became known as the Cat House, with the tale told locally that a stuffed cat was displayed in the window to warn local smugglers that the authorities were in the area. It has since been substantially extended and is now in the grounds of the MDL Woolverstone Marina.

Woolverstone Hall (grade I) was requisitioned during the Second World War and has been in use as a school since the 1950s. The views which the obelisk once enjoyed can be seen from a public footpath.

The Woolverstone obelisk is a sad loss, but the obelisk in Windsor Great Park, also topped by a golden sun, was recently restored by Cliveden Conservation, and looks rather handsome on a bright day.

The Folly Flâneuse wishes to thank Simon Pearce of Woolverstone for sharing his research and for being an excellent guide to the area. Thanks also to the owners of the surviving plaques for permission to view.

Woolverstone Hall is currently home to Ipswich High School. There are excellent views of the house on its website https://www.ipswichhighschool.co.uk

Thank you for reading and please scroll down to the foot of the page to share any thoughts or comments.

It is getting a bit ‘backendish’ – as they say in Yorkshire – and the Folly Flâneuse is taking a short break. Meanwhile here are some of the wonderful landscape ornaments built by the Lyttelton family at Hagley Park, seen on a perfect autumn day as the leaves begin to turn bronze and gold, and the mist clears to reveal a blue sky.

For those who are not familiar with the delightful term ‘backendish’ it describes that period when we enter the last months of the year, and it suddenly becomes chilly and autumnal (thank you D for introducing the flâneuse to this word many years ago). Hands deep in pockets, the Folly Flâneuse soon warmed up on a brisk walk around the park.

Hagley Park moves to winter opening hours at the end of October. The park and cafe (very welcome at the end of a walk) are open 10-4, but check the website for details https://www.hagleypark.co.uk/

Thank you for reading. The Folly Flâneuse will be back with a folly story next week. Enjoy the seasonal colours.