Welcombe Bank Obelisk

Welcombe Hills & Clopton Park
Stratford-Upon-Avon
Warwickshire

 

(OS Ref. SP 206 568)

 

A large obelisk that dominates the surrounding parkland and countryside, there are benches and picnic tables at which to sit and watch the many wild rabbits dart past. The Welcombe Bank Obelisk was erected at the cost of $4000 in 1876 bythe industriaist Robert Needham Phillips (1815-1890) in memory of his brother Mark Phillips (1800-1873) who had died in the course of the Crimean War. The obelisk carries inscriptions on three of its side whilst the fourth carries the family coat of arms and the motto "Simplex Hundiths"

 

 

Northern inscription:

MARK PHILIPS

BORN AT THE PARK PRESTWICH LANCASHIRE NOVEMBER 4TH 1800

DIED AT WELCOMBE STRATFORD ON AVON WARWICKSHIRE DECEMBER 23RD 1873

ON THE PASSING OF THE REFORM BILL

HE WAS ELECTED IN 1832 THE FIRST MEMBER FOR MANCHESTER AND CONTINUED

TO REPRESENT IT FOR 15 YEARS WHEN THE STATE OF HIS HEALTH

COMPELLED HIM AGAINST THE URGENT WISH OF HIS CONSTITUENTS

TO RESIGN THE TRUST WHICH HE HAD SO ABLY FULFILLED

IN HIS PUBLIC CAREER HE WAS DISTINGUISHED

BY THE COURAGEOUS AND ENERGETIC SUPPORT WHICH HE GAVE

TO THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION AND CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

BY THE ACTIVE PART HE TOOK IN THE PROMOTION OF COMMERCIAL FREEDOM

AND BY THE MUNIFICENT AID HE AFFORDED IN PROVIDING

PLACES OF RECREATION FOR THE PEOPLE

IN PRIVATE LIFE HIS KIND AND GENEROUS NATURE

COMBINED WITH HIS SOCIAL DISPOSITION AND RARE FLOW OF WIT AND HUMOUR

ENDEARED HIM TO A WIDE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

THIS MEMORIAL WAS RAISED IN 1876

IN TOKEN OF THE DEEPEST ESTEEM AND AFFECTION

OF HIS ONLY BROTHER

ROBERT NEEDHAM PHILIPS

 

The western inscription:

ROBERT NEEDHAM PHILIPS

BORN AT THE PARK MANCHESTER

JUNE 20TH. 1815

DIED AT WELCOMBE WARWICKSHIRE

FEBRUARY 20TH.1890

HE WAS A MERCHANT AND MANUFACTURER IN MANCHESTER;

HE REPRESENTED BURY IN PARLIAMENT FOR 22 YEARS;

AND WAS INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THE NEIGHBOURHOOD,

WHERE HE PASSED THE CLOSING YEARS OF HIS LIFE.

HE WILL BE REMEMBERED AS

A PUBLIC SPIRITED CITIZEN,

A STRENUOUS POLITICIAN, AND

A WARM HEARTED NEIGHBOUR.

 

The eastern inscription:

ROBERT PHILIPS

FATHER OF MARK AND ROBERT NEEDHAM PHILIPS

A LEADING CITIZEN OF MANCHESTER

AND A LANDED PROPRIETOR AT

SNITTERFIELD IN THIS COUNTY

HE WAS A WISE AND A BRAVE MAN

A FRIEND OF LIBERTY IN EVIL DAYS

BORN APRIL 3RD. 1760 DIED MARCH 14TH. 1844.