Meridian Monument

Image: © Ian Capper Taken: 20 Sep 2022

Monument at the point where the Greenwich Meridian meets the English Channel, consisting of a square pillar topped by a copper globe. (To be more precise it is the Meridian defined in the mid 18th Century by the Astronomer Royal at the time, James Bradley, and as used for most UK mapping purposes, as opposed to the later 1851 Meridian, defined in 1851 by another Astronomer Royal, Sir George Biddell Airy, which is the internationally recognised version for timekeeping purposes and which at this point is 5.9 metres to the east of here.) The monument, designed by architect R W H Jones (who was also responsible for the Saltdean Lido and the Ocean Hotel in Saltdean) was unveiled on 8 August 1936, the brainchild of land agent and founder of Peacehaven, Charles Neville, following an observation by a resident Commander W S Davenport that the Greenwich Meridian passed through the town. It seems that the original intention was that the memorial should commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935, but this had passed (and the King had died) by the time it was erected. Instead the obelisk was officially named the King George V Memorial and Prime Meridian Obelisk. Cliff erosion (or associated sea defence work) has meant that the monument has had to be moved inland from its original position, firstly by 30 ft in the 1960s and then by a further 24 ft in the early 1980s. The globe on top of the pillar is a replacement of the original which was lost in the 1987 storm. For a close up of the plaques on the south face, see Image

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