This Obelisk is a curiosity of the first order. The first Obelisk in England was brought for King Henry VIII in 1570 at Nonsuch. I do not know when the term was first used needle for an obelisk, clearly used when the obelisk was set up on The Thames Embankment. A number of Houses across England started to gather relics from Europe in the obligatory gentleman s Tour for educational purposes (from c1680) largely of members of The Society of Diletante and their friends. Scholarly members of Society had Temples and Obelisks built, the first in Cornwall was at Padstow early 18C; I do note the base is roughly speaking that of Roman proportions, lending more to a copy of those from The Vatican, therefore based on that at Nonsuch. It only serves to say to me that this is a Cornish copy in granite the local material, made before the use of Bath Stone which became used as a norm in the early 18C. That fact also tends to date it prior to that.
There were other sites much more suitable as marks much closer to any ship. The elevation is some 300 feet. No evidence of any coating; the granite is roughly hewn and therefore any wash of lime or otherwise would still be seen. There is no indication of any interest in maritime commercial matters.
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