Record Details
| NHER Number: | 4208 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Name: | The Fransham Obelisk, Little Dunham |
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Summary
This gault brick obelisk with stone dressings was erected in 1814 by John and Mary Drostier (or Drozier) to celebrate peace at the end of the Napoleonic wars. Mary Drostier was an aunt of Nelson. The obelisk has an inscribed pedestal and a plaque on the shaft in memory of Nelson. It was originally erected in order to be visible from Curd's Hall (NHER 4203) where the Drostiers lived.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 8819 1249 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF81SE |
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| Parish: | LITTLE DUNHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
The Fransham Obelisk.
Could not be found 25 May 1978 by E. Rose (NAU) and presumed destroyed, but (S1) as still there, so presumably undergrowth since cleared. Erected 1814 by John Drostier to mark the Peace; of gault brick with stone dressings. Inscribed pedestal. Plaque on shaft in memory of Nelson.
E. Rose (NAU), 24 October 1983.
February 1984. Listed, Grade II.
Listing Description:
Obelisk formerly connected by avenue of trees to Curds Hall, Fransham (demolished). Erected in 1814 by John Drostier in commemoration of peace according to dado inscription. Gault brick with stone dressings. Pedestal with inscription in dado. Angles and cup of shaft and surbase in stone. Oval plaque on shaft with inscription in memory of Admiral Nelson.
Information from (S1).
Erected by John Droster of Curd's Hall, Great Fransham in commemoration of Peace Anno Domini MDCCCXIV, the upper plaque reads: "Nelson of the Nile Trafalgar Obit 21n of Oct 1805 Eatatis 47", but actually stands a few metres into the neighbouring parish of Little Dunham. Now it stands over a mile from the nearest road half hidden in a hedgerow between two East Anglian wheat prairie fields, but two hundred year ago it stood framed by an avenue of trees running west from the now demolished Curd's Hall. Curd’s Hall was bought by John Drosier from the estate of William Nelson the great-uncle of Horatio Nelson. The Curd family came to Norfolk in the time of Henry III but for some reason changed the family name from Crudd. The obelisk (or obilisk as John Drosier called it) is built of Norfolk Whites, a type of brick fired from the local boulder clay (S2).
Still there in 2006 (S2) and a Listed Building.
D. Gurney (HES), 29 August 2013.
Monument Types
- OBELISK (19th Century to 21st Century - 1814 AD to 2100 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Newspaper Article: Lynn News. 1990. [Photograph of the obelisk at Little Dunham]. 10 July. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1986. Nelson links are amazing. 15 December. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 521. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Designation: English Heritage. National Heritage List for England. List Entry 1169330. |
| <S2> | Website: 2006. The Fransham Obelisk to Nelson and the Peace of 1814. |
Related records
| 4203 | Parent of: Site of Curds Hall (Monument) |
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