Lord Archer's Obelisk

The obelisk was constructed in 1749 by Thomas Archer, 1st Baron Archer, who owned the nearby Umberslade Hall. It seems to have been constructed during a period of re-landscaping of the parkland around Umberslade Hall. The more formal 17th-century-style park, which included several smaller obelisks near to the hall, was replaced in the mid-18th century in a more naturalistic style. The obelisk was built by William Hiorne of Warwick. It has also been proposed that it marks the defeat of the 1745–46 Jacobite rising as Archer was a prominent member of the Whig party who opposed the rising. Other claims are that it marks the meeting place of the last coven of witches in Warwickshire or a nearby…

The obelisk is made from grey limestone ashlar and is square in cross section. The monument is a Grade II listed structure and the listing notes that it is to be considered in context with the nearby Obelisk Farmhouse, which is also Grade II listed. Though originally a focal point of the view from the hall the setting of the obelisk has been adversely affected by the planting of a group of conifers as part of the construction of the M40 motorway in the late 1980s.