Walking through Southwark, along Borough Road towards Westminster Bridge Road, you will come to a junction where the aforementioned roads meet London Road. At the centre of the roundabout stands an obelisk. This is St George's Circus, and it has an interesting history.
Built in 1771, St George's Circus was London's first purpose built traffic junction. The original obelisk, at the centre of the roundabout, was affixed with four oil lamps to aid traffic in the evenings.
In 1897 the obelisk was removed and replaced with a clock tower, to honour Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The obelisk was then erected in front of the Imperial War Museum, in what is now known as grounds of Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, in 1905, while the clock tower remained at St George's Circus until the 1930s, when it was demolished.
In 1950 the obelisk was Grade II listed and, in 1998, returned to its original location, minus the oil lamps. On its return, two Cabbage Palms were planted within the roundabout, but this small plot of land fell into disrepair and, in 2005, it was replanted with azalea, campanula, lavender, rosemary and tulips.
However, this didn't last and the roundabout was soon concreted over.
The obelisk was designed by Robert Mylne in his role as architect and surveyor of Blackfriars Bridge.
"Erected in XI year of the reign of King George MDCCLXXI" is etched at the base of the obelisk. The other three sides reflect the distance the obelisk stands from Fleet Street (1 mile 350 feet) London Bridge (1 mile 40 feet) Palace Yard (1 mile).
A replica of the obelisk was erected in Brookwood Cemetery, in 1900, on the spot where the human remains, from the crypt of St George the Martyr, Southwark, where reinterred in 1899.
The obelisk has since toppled and broken, due to subsidence.
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