Obelisk is a Grade I listed building in the North Yorkshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 May 1949. Monument.
Obelisk
- WRENN ID
- patient-buttress-onyx
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- North Yorkshire
- Constituency
- Skipton and Ripon MP: Sir Julian Smith (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 May 1949
- Type
- Monument
- Address
- Obelisk, Market Place, Ripon, HG4 1BN
- OS grid reference
- SE 312 712
- Coordinates
- 54.13633, -1.52374
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The obelisk in Ripon, located in the Market Place, was built in 1702 and is attributed to architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. The clerk of works was Cornelius Varker, with masons William Etty and William Cowling, and carver Samuel Carpenter of York. The smith was John Hood. The structure is made of ashlar and features a plinth with a tall, simply moulded base. There is a plaque on the obelisk that is misleadingly inscribed with the following text:
"MDCCLXXXI
ERECTED AT THE EXPENSE OF
WILLIAM AISLABIE ESQUIRE,
WHO REPRESENTED THIS BOROUGH
IN PARLIAMENT SIXTY YEARS.
THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND ASSISTANTS
OF RIPON ORDERED THIS INSCRIPTION,
MDCCLXXXV
THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK ROBINSON,
MAYOR."
The obelisk stands eighty feet high and is topped with a tall wrought iron weather-vane that incorporates a representation of the Wakeman's Horn. It was built by John Aislabie of Studley Royal, and William Aislabie's contribution in 1781 likely involved repairs. He may have also removed the wrought iron railings that once surrounded it and replaced them with four smaller obelisks at the corners, which have since been removed. This obelisk is the earliest surviving free-standing monumental obelisk in Great Britain.
Local climate
Obelisk receives an average of 810 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 50% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 69% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 43 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 84% of listed buildings. Of these, 22 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
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