Photograph of a fleet of naval ships anchored at Spithead, with Clarence Esplanade, Portsmouth in the foreground. A group of figures watch the fleet, standing and seated on the esplanade. There is a obelisk located on the far left side of the photograph.

The obelisk was constructed in 1782. Previously, a gibbet, a tool used in public execution, was located on the spot of the obelisk. The gibbet had held the body of John Felton (1595-1629) who assassinated George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628) in 1628. The gibbet had been used as a marker to show the boundary between Portsmouth and Southsea. When the gibbet fell down, the obelisk was constructed as a new marker.