Sharman Crawford monument, Rademon estate, Ballynhinch Road, Rademan, Ballynahinch, Co Down

Large sandstone obelisk monument of c.1864, built as a memorial to William Sharman Crawford M.P. ‘by a grateful and attached tenantry’. The monument is set on a rise within Sharman Crawford’s former estate at Rademon House, S of Ballynahinch Road, roughly 1 mile W of Crossgar, 4½ miles E of Ballynahinch. The monument is in ashlar sandstone and consists of a tall obelisk and plinth set on top of a broad, stepped sunken base surrounded by a ha-ha-like ditch. The obelisk, as one would expect, is tapered and has a pyramidal top and a short base with rope moulding. The plinth has a corbelled cornice course with pediments, a stepped and chamfered base course, and is topped with urns to the corners. There are (roughly) square panels to each face of the plinth. That on the N contains a bronze relief plaque with two classical style female figures flanking a draped oval containing profile portrait of Sharman Crawford. The plaque is signed ‘S[amuel] F[erres] Lynn’ and dated 1864. The panel to the E side of the plinth contains an inscription referring to the subscription for the monument raised by the tenantry. To the S is Crawford’s coat of arms and to the W is a further inscription containing some detailings of Crawford’s life and career. The large base to the monument is topped with a shallow chamfer with which merges into steps and squat, pyramidal headed corner piers. Beyond this the base is grass covered and gently slopes down to granite coped edging, around which is the ditch or ha-ha. The structure has some traces of creeping plant growth, especially to the top of the plinth.