Obelisk

(lost) St George's Obelisk - lost

St George's Obelisk - lost

Site: St George's Obelisk - lost (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.

We've marked this memorial as 'lost' which clearly it isn't, but that's our way of indicating that a memorial is no longer at the place marked with our pin. See it at its current location for information about the inscriptions, etc.

Credit for this entry to: Mark Brady

Nearby Memorials

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
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
East Ham war memorial

East Ham war memorial

E6, High Street South, East Ham Central Park

This is a substantial monument, often described, understandably, as a cenotaph. Designed by the architect/local politician Banks-Martin. ...

War dead | WW1
1,844 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Mitcham - drought relief obelisk

Mitcham - drought relief obelisk

CR4, Madeira Road, Cricket Green

The inscription is badly deteriorated, so we have copied the inscription from the Historic England website.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
WW1 obelisk - E8

WW1 obelisk - E8

E8, Haggerston Road, Stonebridge Common, Duke of Wellington pub

We found the inscription text at IWM. It's from a report of the unveiling in the Hackney and Kingsland Gazette 23 February 1921.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator