Nelson's Column
Nelson's Column, Trafalgar Square
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| Coordinates | 51°30′27.8″N 0°07′40.7″W / 51.507722°N 0.127972°WCoordinates: 51°30′27.8″N 0°07′40.7″W / 51.507722°N 0.127972°W |
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| Location |
London, WC2 United Kingdom |
| Designer |
William Railton, E. H. Baily and Sir Edwin Landseer Also: Musgrave Watson, William F. Woodington, John Ternouth and John Edward Carew (sculptors) |
| Type | Victory column |
| Material | Granite and bronze |
| Height | 169 feet 3 inches (51.59 m) |
| Beginning date | 1840 |
| Completion date | 1843 |
| Opening date | 1843 |
| Dedicated to | Admiral Horatio Nelson |
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian order built from Dartmoor granite. The Craigleith sandstone statue of Nelson is by E.H. Baily, and the four bronze lions on the base, added in 1867, were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer.
The pedestal is decorated with four bronze relief panels, each 18 feet (5.5 m) square, cast from captured French guns. They depict the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen, and the death of Nelson at Trafalgar. The sculptors were Musgrave Watson, William F. Woodington, John Ternouth, and John Edward Carew, respectively.
It was refurbished in 2006 at a cost of £420,000, at which time it was surveyed and found to be 14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) shorter than previously supposed. The whole monument is 169 ft 3 in (51.6 m) tall from the bottom of the pedestal to the top of Nelson's hat.
In February 1838 a group of 121 peers, MPs and other gentry formed a committee to raise a monument to Lord Nelson, funded by public subscription, and the Government agreed to provide a site in Trafalgar Square, in front of the newly completed National Gallery. A competition was held for designs with an estimated budget of between £20,000 and £30,000. The deadline for submissions was 31 January 1839.
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