Nelson's Column

Nelson’s Column stands in the middle of Trafalgar Square, a broad open space in the City of Westminster. The square itself was laid out in the 1830s in front of the newly finished National Gallery. The monument was built between 1840 and 1843 to designs by William Railton, a Cornish architect. It is a tall Corinthian column of Dartmoor granite topped by a statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Four bronze lions were added around the base in 1867, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer. The column’s pedestal carries four bronze relief panels cast from captured French guns. The reliefs show Nelson’s greatest victories: Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and his death at Trafalgar. The sculptors were Musgrave Watson, William F. Woodington, John Ternouth and John Edward Carew. The ornate capital is by Charles Harriott Smith, made from bronze cannon salvaged from HMS Royal George. The statue itself is 17 feet tall, carved from Craigleith sandstone by Edward Hodges Baily. A survey in 2006 found the column was shorter than thought, measuring 169 feet 3 inches from base to hat. Visitors find a wide flight of steps leading up between the four bronze lions. The square around the column is always busy with people, street artists and pigeons. The National Gallery faces the column, its grand portico forming a backdrop. Above, Nelson looks south towards Whitehall where the relief of his death is placed. The bronze lions show signs of wear from generations of visitors who once climbed onto their backs.