Obelisk to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (Sun Monument)

Obelisk dedicated to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 1730s to 1740s, probably erected by William Wentworth, Second Earl of Strafford. Restored in 2008. Sandstone ashlar.

DESCRIPTION The obelisk stands in front of the battlemented wall and closes the vistas of Broad Avenue and Lady Augusta’s Walk to the east.

It is constructed of sandstone ashlar blocks with a deep, square plinth and a square die with a moulded base and cornice above which the obelisk rises with a pyramidal cap. Set into the front face of the die are two panels. The original square, marble panel has a badly weathered inscription now largely illegible. Beneath is an inset C20 ashlar slab which records the inscription. It reads:

“TO THE MEMORY OF THE / RT HON LADY MARY / WORTLEY MONTAGU / WHO IN THE YEAR 1720 / INTRODUCED INOCULATION / OF THE SMALLPOX / INTO ENGLAND FROM TURKEY”

(sentence spacing varies from the original inscription which ends with an S [illegible] 7 [illegible])

The pyramidal cap is topped by a bronze ball finial (2008).