Ode to an Obelisk

One of my favourite legends in Colchester is actually in one of the most public places in town, wandered past by dozens of people every day. Just behind Colchester Castle, before you head down the hill to Lower Castle Park, stands the very innocuous obelisk, a monument to the bloody Civil War that saw so many families torn apart by loyalty to King or Government.

In 1648, Colchester was under siege by Lord Thomas Fairfax, general to Oliver Cromwell who would become England's first Lord Protector in 1653. Leader of the Roundheads, Cromwell's aim was to get rid of the incompetent King Charles I and for England to hand more power to Parliament to govern its own matters. Colchester, occupied by Royalist troops who had only intended to briefly pass through, suffered under siege for two and a half months before the Royalist troops finally surrended on the 27th of August 1648.

This stone marks the spot
Where on August 28. 1648
After the surrender of the town
The two Royalist captains
Sir Charles Lucas
and Sir George Lyle
Were shot by order of Sir Thomas Fairfax,
The Parliamentarian General

As punishment for their defence and surrender, Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lyle were executed by firing squad on the orders of Fairfax, and an obelisk now stands there to commemorate these two brave men. The legend now goes that where their blood fell, grass will not grow. I suppose it helped that that area was entirely concreted over, just to make sure!