Camberley Obelisk
Coordinates: 51°20′25″N 0°44′21″W / 51.3402°N 0.7393°W
Camberley Obelisk (also known as Norris's Obelisk or Norris's Whim) is a brick tower at the top of a hill in Camberley, Surrey, England. The tower was built by John Norris (1721–1786) in about 1765–1770. The top section of the tower was destroyed by fire in the early 1880s. It is a Grade II listed building.
Although known as an obelisk, the structure is in fact a square tower, made of red bricks. It is built on the top of a wooded hill in Camberley Park, about 200 yards (180 m) east of Camberley town centre.
The tower originally comprised several stories, and is estimated to have been about 100 feet (30 m) in height. However, the top part of the tower was demolished in the late 19th century, and it is now only 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The walls are up to 5 feet (1.5 m) thick. There was originally a wooden staircase inside the tower, allowing access to the top. The inside of the tower is now empty, and all the entrances have been closed off with iron grids.
The tower was built about 1765–1770 by John Norris, a prosperous merchant and a member of the landed gentry who owned land and property in Warwickshire, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire and in Islington, and was High Sheriff for Buckinghamshire in 1775. He had two manors, Hawley Place in Hawley, Hampshire and Hughenden Manor in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The tower is situated on top of a hill, about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Norris' house in Hawley. At the time of its construction the town of Camberley had not yet been founded, and the area was open heathland. The hill on which the tower is situated overlooks the A30 road, which during the 18th century was the turnpike road between Exeter and London. The tower was the only conspicuous building in the area, and was a well-known landmark during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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