The Obelisk dates from a time when a great deal of what was then the hinterland of Southampton was occupied by large estates with grand houses. Though a handful of these houses still exist today, most have since been demolished with their grounds almost completely swallowed up by the city's suburbs.
The obelisk was built on the Weston Grove Estate by William Chamberlayne in 1810 to commemorate his friend, the MP Charles Fox; a man described as "one of the founding fathers of modern liberalism" and who campaigned for, among other things, freedom of speech and freedom of religion; In one speech to the House of Commons in 1792 Fox argued:
..to call on man to give up his religious rights is to call on him to do that which is impossible. I will say that no state can compel it; no state ought to require it, because it is not in the power of man to comply with that requisition
Chamberlayne himself played an active role in Southampton's civic-life serving as MP from 1818 until his death in 1829 and is himself the subject of another local monument - Chamberlayne's Column which was produced to give thanks for his gift to the city of iron lamp posts for its gas lights - Chamberlayne was also at the time chairman of the local gas company.
The part of the estate where the obelisk stood was sold off to Robert Wright in 1854 who built a mansion called 'Mayfield'. Having passed into the hands of the City Council in 1937 the grounds were opened as a public park, Mayfield Park, with 'Mayfield' itself being demolished in 1956 leaving the Obelisk and the stable block as the last lingering traces of the country estate period.
