Page:Calcutta, Past and Present.djvu/78

 The spot which should have been held sacred by every Englishman was occupied by a lamp-post, and, later, by a statue of Sir Ashley Eden. It has been reserved for the opening years of the twentieth century to see this neglect rectified, and a grave hallowed by memories of heroism and suffering once more marked by a suitable monument, a replica of the one which Holwell raised, erected by Lord Curzon in 1902, and by him presented to the city.

The same spirit of indifference which allowed the Holwell monument to perish led to the Black Hole prison being treated as an ordinary godown. When Calcutta was recovered by the English it was thought desirable to build an entirely new Fort, apart from the residential quarter, and the old Fort was therefore not repaired. The houses and other buildings were adapted for immediate use, and in 1766 the whole was handed over to the Customs authorities, in whose occupation it remained till 1818, when the old Fort was pulled down to make way for new warehouses. Although the Black Hole prison continued to be known by that name, and was visited by occasional sightseers, no attempt was made to preserve it as an historical spot. Lord Valentia, who visited Calcutta in 1803, wrote of it as being "part of a godown, or warehouse" filled with