Eastnor in objects: the obelisk

The next time you’re in Eastnor Deer Park, cast your gaze up. Look past the treetops and follow the western ridge of Midsummer Hill. And when you spot a huge stone spire, stop. Because that’s where this story starts – at the foothills of the Malvern Hills, where a towering monument to memory can be seen for miles around.

At 90 feet tall, the Eastnor Obelisk is the largest of the Eastnor objects – and one of the earliest. It was erected in 1812, just as work began on the castle itself, when the 1st Earl Somers tasked architect Robert Smirke (who also built the castle) to create a monument commemorating members of the Somers Cocks family.

On its weathered faces are tributes to several family members. One panel honours John Somers, Lord Chancellor in 1700 and adviser to William of Orange. Another remembers Edward Charles Cocks – an intelligence officer for the Duke of Wellington, who died at the siege of Burgos in the Peninsular War, six months after work started on the castle. His father, the 1st Earl Somers, added the tribute to him as a permanent marker of a life cut short.

It stood there, tall and silent, for over 100 years, before a couple of hard winters (and some less-than-perfect repairs in the 1970s) caused the stone to crumble. In the 2010s, scaffolding rose around it once more as the obelisk underwent a careful restoration.

Nimbus Conservation of Frome restored the stonework, while master letter carver Philippa Fawcett and team recut the inscriptions, ensuring the words would endure for the next century – and beyond.

Nowadays, the obelisk is a popular – and scenic – stopping point for walkers wandering along the Worcestershire Way, and even features on the Malvern Hills National Landscape logo (a “National Landscape” being the new name for an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). To reach it from Eastnor, follow the path to the left of the Woodshed and continue through Eastnor Deer Park – it’s only about 45 minutes.

When you reach the top, take a moment to absorb the view. To the east, the thatched cottages of the Cotswolds, shrunk to the size of a toy village; to the west, the dark mass of Wales, rising from the horizon like a dragon’s spine. And if you look straight down, you’ll see Eastnor Castle, nestled among the trees like a fairytale palace, still watched over by its steadfast stone counterpart.