Nelson's Column

The column was built in the period from 1840 to 1843 in memory of Admiral Horatio Nelson , who died in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 . The 5.5-meter statue of Nelson is located on top of a 46-meter granite column. The statue looks south toward the Admiralty and Portsmouth - the place where Nelson's flagship stands - the Royal Navy ship " HMS Victor ."

The top of the Corinthian column is decorated with leaf-shaped bronze ornaments cast from English cannons. The square pedestal is decorated with four bronze panels cast from captured French cannons, which depict 4 of Nelson's famous victories. Part of the internal base is made of 29 artillery pieces delivered from the HMS Royal George, a ship of the same type as the HMS Victor. The monument was designed by architect William Railton in 1838 and built by Peto & Grissell. A 1:22 scale model of stone is on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich , London . A sandstone statue on top was created by Edward Hodges Bailey , a member of the Royal Academy of Arts : a small bronze tablet with the name of the author is located at its foot. 4 bronze panels were created by sculptors: M. Watson, D. Ternaus, W. Wooddington, D. E. Carew. In general, the monument cost £ 47,500, which in modern terms is £ 3.5 million (about $ 6 million). Four lions at the base of the column, created by Edwin Landsir , were added much later - only in 1867 .

There is a popular bike that in 1925 the Scottish con man Arthur Ferguson managed to sell the column to naive Americans. ^[2]

The column also had symbolic significance for Adolf Hitler . With a successful invasion of Britain, Hitler planned to move the convoy to Berlin. ^[3]

John Nuks, host of the BBC children's program, climbed onto the convoy in 1970. TV host Gary Wilmot climbed onto the convoy in 1989.

The column was restored in 2006. The restoration was carried out by David Ball Restoration Ltd. of South London. An amount of £ 420,000 was allocated by Zurich Financial Services AG . Before the restoration, a laser examination showed that the height of the column is less than previously thought (56 meters). In fact, the height of the column is 51.5 meters (counting from the first step to the admiral's hat on the statue).