Direction Pillar erected in 1760 by Charles Gray on behalf on the Essex Trust. The pillar, in the form of an obelisk, stood in Colchester High Street and gave distances to London, Chelmsford, Harwich, Ipswich, Norwich and Yarmouth. It was built at a cost of £3 6s with a further half guinea to the architect, James Deane, and to a workman for the painting and lettering. In 1858 it was bought at auction by Charles Wire and now stands in Colchester Cemetery as a gravestone to him and his wife; Charles Wire was an uncle of Colchester antiquarian, diarist and watch-maker William Wire.<1><5>

Shown on engraving.<2>

Obelisk in Colchester Cemetery inscribed: THIS ANCIENT OBELISK REMOVED FROM THE HIGH STREET COLCHESTER IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MARY ANNE THE MUCH-BELOVED WIFE OF CHARLES WIRE OF THE PARISH OF ST BOTOLPH OBT JUNE 15TH 1859/ ET 47 YEARS. MY FLESH SHALL REST IN HOPE. The other three faces also have memorial inscriptions to members of the Wire family. As well as having an interest in its earlier use as a milestone, the obelisk is one of the earliest grave markers in the cemetery which opened in 1856.<3>

The Obelisk is a Locally Listed Heritage Asset. see http://colchesterhistoricbuildingsforum.org.uk/drupal/node/710 [accessed 24/05/18]

Bettley and Pevsner record:

'Stone obelisk, with three bands of vermiculated rustication, by James Deane. Erected in the High Street 1760 by Charles Gray and painted with mileages to London and other towns; removed 1858, and re-erected as a memorial to Mary Ann Wire died 1889.'<6>