Obelisk, Pole Hill, Chingford, London E4
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Obelisk, Pole Hill, Chingford, London E4 by Christine Matthews as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Obelisk, Pole Hill, Chingford, London E4
Image: © Christine Matthews Taken: 18 Nov 2008
This pillar was erected in 1824 under the direction of the Reverend John Pond, MA, Astronomer Royal. It was placed on the Greenwich Meridian and its purpose was to indicate the direction of true north from the transit telescope of the Royal Observatory. The Greenwich Meridian as changed in 1850 and adopted by international agreement in 1884 as the line of zero longitude passes 19 feet to the east of this pillar. At that point (19 feet / 5.8m east) there is a smaller concrete obelisk, which marks the true modern position of the Greenwich Meridian. The pillar however was not erected to mark the meridian. It is an Ordnance Survey trig point placed here to mark the top of the hill. The fact that it is on or near the Meridian is a coincidence.Image] Image] Image]
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Image Location
Latitude
51.636083
Longitude
-0.002399