The Lansdowne Monument sparks great emotions in some parts of the village. For many it is a welcome sign in the distance when travelling that they are nearly home, for others it is a memory of a stopping point on many wonderful walks through the Calstone Coombes and over the downs, and for a few it is a mild irritation that our friends in the next village love it so much that they insist on calling it the “Cherhill Monument”! Of course we in Calstone don’t mind really as it is big enough to be shared by all, safe in the knowledge that it is ours!
The Lansdowne Monument was built in 1845 at a cost of £1359 by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne to commemorate his ancestor Sir William Petty whose fortune, inherited by John Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Shelburne, was used to purchase Bowood Estate. It marked the South East edge of the estate and is visible from the grounds. The monument was designed by Charles Barry, is 125 feet (38m) high, made of stone and is hollow. The builders were D & C Jones of Bradford-on-Avon. Before it was repaired by the National trust in 1990 daring children (Chris Maundrell for example) used to climb inside the lower tiers of it. Barry’s original plan shows that it was intended to have a ball on top with a fleur finial but this was later changed. Barry’s bill (in Bowood’s archives), dated 29 May 1846, came to £92 for “The design, specification and estimate of the works in a Monument erected on the Cherhill Downs.”
In 2010 the monument is again falling into disrepair with the lower tiers surrounded in scaffolding and netting to prevent some of the falling stone from hitting passing walkers, or sheep! I assume that the National Trust will repair it when they have sufficient funds. It is now 2021 and it still has yet to be restored!
