The Gregory obelisk, Stivichall Croft, Coventry CV3

Image: © Robin Stott Taken: 9 Aug 2012

The inscription reads: This green / with the adjoining hamlet of Stivichall / was presented to the City of Coventry / in 1932 / by Major Charles Hugh Gregory-Hood / in memory of the Gregory family / who were owners of the Manor of / Stivichall / for over 400 years In the 1920s Coventry was expanding fast as a manufacturing centre but the picturesque hamlet of Stivichall somehow survived 20th-century intrusions. There was widespread regret when the Gregory family started building houses on their land in 1928. To preserve this relic of bygone Warwickshire the Corporation bought nine and a half acres and the Major, with some encouragement, gave a further one and a quarter acres – on condition that the gift was marked by a stone. It was erected in the winter of 1932-33, of pink sandstone, at a cost of about £88. See also Image and Image Shortly afterwards an almost identical obelisk was erected to the memory of the Conservators of the Stoke Commons, by the Binley Road in Image

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0