Obelisk

(relocated) St George's Obelisk - gone

St George's Obelisk - gone
St George's Obelisk - gone

Site: St George's Obelisk - gone (1 memorial)

SE1, Lambeth Road

We knew that the obelisk now at St George's Circus spent much of its life in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, from about 1897 - 1998, and now we have a photo of it there.

Wikipedia says the obelisk was at "the north apex of Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, (the remnant of Multon Close) a short distant southwest, in front of the museum .." But where exactly? This map shows something at the entrance to the grounds of, what was then, Bethlem Royal Hospital, but we think that indicates the gatehouse, which is still there.

The photo shows the obelisk at a corner with traffic lights, and the street sign reads "St George's Road". The buildings in the background provide other essential clues. We believe they are/were in Barkham Terrace. This was a Georgian terrace with a chapel in the middle. Upton Chapel is the pedimented building shown in the photo and the modern building with the distinctive banding near the top can be clearly seen in Streetview today. The chapel was damaged in WW2, demolished in 1952 and replaced with an extension to the modern building in exactly the same style. And the white, classical building at the left? This can only be the gatehouse at the entrance to the grounds of the Hospital. We were confused at first since all these buildings seem too close but we assume that's an effect of the lens used in the camera.

We thank Mark Brady for sharing this photo. We'd like to thank the source but Mark found it on the internet a long time ago and can't remember the website (we've all been there). And after we'd done all this photo-examination he sent us a map showing the location of the obelisk - exactly where we'd laboriously deduced it was.

See the obelisk at its current location for information about the inscriptions, etc.

Credit for this entry to: Mark Brady

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

Nearby Memorials

Bellot memorial obelisk

Bellot memorial obelisk

SE10, Five Foot Walk, Royal Naval College

33ft high red granite.  Described in detail at the splendid PMSA.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
New Zealand obelisk

New Zealand obelisk

SE10, King William Walk

Made of Cornish granite.  We've photoed the stone chain around the monument.  Lower down is a stone rope with knots at the corners. We l...

War dead | Other war
22 subjects commemorated
Woolwich Boer war memorial

Woolwich Boer war memorial

SE18, Grand Depot Road

{On the front face of the plinth:} To the glory of God Erected by the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 61st Battery Roy...

War dead | Other war
20 subjects commemorated
Dance's obelisk

Dance's obelisk

EC2, Circus Place

The design of the obelisk is based on the 1771 one in St George's Circus, The profile is carved in Portland stone and was taken from a co...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Samuel Gurney obelisk

Samuel Gurney obelisk

E15, The Broadway, Stratford

The Biblical quote is from Job 29:11. Water was supplied to the basins on the north and south faces by these unusual spouts. At the cent...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator