English: Rolle Obelisk, near Bicton Park, Devon. Built in 1747 by Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1708–1750), of Bicton House, as a visual attraction for the gardens (source: Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1989). The Buildings of England: Devon (second ed.). Penguin Books. pp. 172–174). Rolle also built the four-sided pillar in the centre of the four-cross-ways between the parishes of Bicton and Otterton in 1743, serving as a signpost for the various places to which the four roads lead. A Grade II listed building. Listed buildings text: [1]

BICTON BICTON PARK SY 08 NE 3/22 Rolle Obelisk including - surrounding area railings 11.ll.52 GV II Obelisk. Limestone ashlar; cast iron railings on granite kerb. C18 (1730 according to Hoskins). Tall stone needle on a large square-section pedestal with soffit-moulded cap and moulded plinth. It is fenced in by spear-headed iron railings with more ornate clustered-shaft corner posts. The obelisk is uninscribed and apparently built simply as a landscape feature. Its situation dominates the horizon from the Orangery (q.v.) and Italianate Gardens (q.v.). Source: W G Hoskins, Devon, (1954) p.335

The vertical stone column is always arresting, whether in Egypt, Paris, Rome, London or East Budleigh. However, though it is a forceful feature in cities, it is more particularly so when it is a contrast to the myriad curves and undulations of natural scenery.