Pole Hill Obelisk Traditional Cache

Pole Hill is a hill on the border between Greater London and Essex. From its summit there is an extensive view over much of east, north and west London. It is chiefly noted for the fact that it lies directly on the Greenwich meridian and, being the highest point on that bearing directly visible from Greenwich, was at one time used as a marker by geographers at the observatory there to set their telescopes and observation equipment to a true zero degree bearing.

On the summit of the hill is an obelisk made of granite and bearing the following inscription:

“This pillar was erected in 1824 under the direction of the Reverend John Pond, MA, Astronomer Royal. It was placed on the Greenwich Meridian and its purpose was to indicate the direction of true north from the transit telescope of the Royal Observatory. The Greenwich Meridian as changed in 1850 and adopted by international agreement in 1884 as the line of zero longitude passes 19 feet to the east of this pillar.”

The cache is located at the large tree to the west of the obelisk.