M  o  r  e  t  o  n    P  i  l  l  a  r

( F r am p t o n  M o n u m e n t )




 Nestling amongst the trees in dense natural woodland, almost like a Mayan ruin in Central America, is the 75 foot tall Moreton Pillar. Only the top of this structure can now be glimpsed through the trees that cover the top of Fir Hill where it is situated. It was no doubt a lot more visible however when it was erected in 1786, its designer being James Hamilton, who was responsible for designing a lot of nearby Weymouth.


Portland Stone :-
It is constructed out of Portland Stone, but as can be seen time has not been kind to the structure and it is now in a poor state. The entire woodland floor around the base is littered with chunks of fallen masonry, some quite sizeable.





The structure was erected by a Captain John Houlton "...in gratitude and respect for James Frampton..", as a plaque at one time announced, to anyone who was interested.



Tranquility:-
You can almost walk past the pillar and not notice during the summer months due to the surrounding foliage, and with the chunks of stone littering the woodland floor around its base, you have a feeling that time almost can stand still. I often wish that many of these structures were freely accessible to the general public, but in this case the whole feeling of the place would be lost, graffiti and Coke cans would tend to destroy the atmosphere that exists here.










The Distinctive Urn:-
The beautiful urn which crowns the pillar, seems from the ground at any rate, to still be in good shape. This is usually the only part of the structure that most people see over the tree tops, as the area is strictly private and not open to the public.












Additional Photographs
These are full size and take longer to load.

Co-Ords: 380686 088484 / SY 806884  

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