Hardy Monument

[3] It has been owned by National Trust since 1938, when it was bought for £15, and is regularly opened for visitors can climb the 120 steps to the viewpoint at the top.

The monument has been shown on navigational charts since 1846 and is visible from a distance of 60 miles (97 km).

The bench mark on the northwest face denotes the altitude of Black Down at 780 feet (240 m).

Adjacent to the monument is a stone seat erected in memory of Lt Col William Digby Oswald who was killed on the Somme in 1916.

[5] The Hardy Monument was the origin (meridian) of the 6 inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps for Somerset and Dorset.