Hidden Henley

THIS obelisk can only be glimpsed from the pavement on Remenham Hill as it resides in the grounds of Park Place.

In around 1837, Fuller Maitland bought the property and wished to mark the accession of Queen Victoria in that same year.

He somehow acquired the upper part of the spire from St Brides Church in London, which had been struck by lightning in 1764, and had it mounted on a plinth.

In her 1896 Guide to Henley-on-Thames, Emily Climeson tells of how the Queen paid a secret visit in 1866.

There is a local legend that this is the “missing” spire from St Nicholas Church in Remenham.