Obelisk erected 1854 on a hillside adjacent to a pond in the former Radway Grange estate. To commemorate Fiennes Miller's gallantry at the battle of Waterloo. Location is north of Castle Wood and to the north of Edgehill Tower (now the Castle Inn) in Edgehill village.
Obelisk. Dated 1854. Erected for Charles Chambers. Ironstone ashlar. High stepped and moulded plinth. Tall pedestal with moulded cornice. The inscription records that it was erected to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo and Colonel F.S. Miller’s gallantry in commanding the VIth Inniskilling Dragoons. It stands on a rise below Edgehill, visible from Radway Grange.
Erected in 1854 in local ironstone and surrounded by several ancient lime trees by Charles Chambers in honour of his neighbour and cousin by marriage, Fiennes Miller, for his gallantry at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. (Page 30 details his part in the battle). Situated above a pool created as part of a landscaping project on the Radway Grange estate in mid 17th century by Sanderson Miller, the grandfather of Fiennes Miller.
The pedestal of the obelisk bears an inscription that reads:
This obelisk was erected by / Charles Chambers Esqre. R.N. / in 1854 to commemorate the / Battle of Waterloo / where the VIth. Inniskilling Dragoons / were commanded by / Lieut. Col.F.S.Miller / who, for his gallant conduct / during the action, in which he was / very severely wounded, / was made a Commander of the Most / Honourable Order of the Bath.
The VIth Inniskilling Dragoons were a heavy cavalry regiment based for many years at Ballinaslo, Ireland. At Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815 they fought in two actions which brought about the defeat of the French under Napoleon Bonaparte. They were led by Miller when his fellow squadron commanders were disabled. Miller himself suffered various wounds including a shattered thigh. He was still recovering in Brussels in 1816, probably attended by Chambers, a naval surgeon, long after the Inniskillings had returned to England, where they were fêted as the deciding force at Waterloo.
Charles Chambers died in 1854. The obelisk is his touching, last tribute to Miller. The two men were friends, neighbours and cousins by marriage.
The site of the obelisk was originally a water feature designed to be seen from Radway Grange, the family home, below. It was formed in the eighteenth century by Miller's grandfather, the landscape gardener Sanderson Miller. The slender obelisk, probably constructed with locally-quarried 'ironstone', is dwarfed by towering lime trees.