QUERY1849
The Strand Maypole
By E.F.R.
"E.F.R." inquires what was the ultimate fate of the "tall Maypole" which "once o'erlooked the Strand"? It was taken down about the year 1717, when it was found to measure a hundred feet. It was obtained by Sir Isaac Newton, and borne on a carriage, for timber, to Wanstead, in Essex, the seat of the Earl of Tylney, where, under the direction of the Reverend Mr. Pound Breton, it was placed in the Park, for the erection of a telescope, the largest then in the world, presented by a French gentleman to the Royal Society.
Topics: Historical Customs, Royal Society, Astronomy