Once more the Cranleigh Obelisk is looking smart again. Stonemasons have just spent two weeks working on the monument to complete in good time for Cranleigh In Bloom that will take place next month.
Having achieved a Silver Gilt Award for the S. E. Region of ‘Briton In Bloom’, supporters were anxious to keep up the standard of display and were delighted with the response by Waverley Borough Council in making such an improvement to Cranleigh’s historic monument.
The Obelisk has an interesting history starting in 1794 when first built and as a watering place for the village. Just twenty four years later the monument served as the ideal place to display important road signs produced by J.Champion Foundry, a local blacksmith in 1818.
This was a significant year as it marked the opening of a new turnpike road between Guildford and Horsham. It is thought that the inclusion of Windsor and Brighton related to the journey taken by the Prince Regent being 31 miles from Windsor Castle and a further 31 miles to his Brighton Pavilion. The journey would have been over the two years before being crowned George IV so leaving Cranleigh with the legacy now clearly recorded on it’s 200 year old obelisk.
