William Harding (antiquary)

Lieutenant-Colonel William Harding (16 August 1792 – 13 January 1886) of Upcott in the parish of Pilton in Devon, was a British antiquary, geologist and army officer.

After World War II it was acquired by Geoffrey Stallard, a London solicitor, and in 1988 the firm donated a large collection of Harding family papers to the North Devon Records Office.

[13][14] Following the end of the war, in 1823 he obtained his own company, becoming captain of the 58th Foot and was posted to the recently built Military Ordnance Depot at Weedon Bec in Northamptonshire.

[16] On a prominent hill on his estate of Upcott he built a large stone folly, described variously as either a "castellated sham gatehouse" (Pevsner)[17] or a Triumphal Arch, which latter interpretation is believed to commemorate his military service during the Peninsular War.

He was buried in the churchyard of Pilton Church, inside which survives his mural monument,[16] on the centre of the west wall, inscribed as follows: Arms above: Or, on a bend sable three martlets of the field (Harding), a mullet for difference of a 3rd son.