Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

In 1838, a committee of 121 peers, Members of Parliament, and other gentry formed a group to raise a monument to Lord Nelson. Funded by public subscription and a site provided by the government in Trafalgar Square, a competition was held for designs with an estimated budget of between £20,000 and £30,000. The winning entry was a design by William Railton for a column surmounted by a statue of Nelson and flanked by four sculpted lions. While the original plan called for a column 203 feet high, this was reduced to 170 feet due to concerns over stability.

Between 1840 and 1843, the monument was constructed at a cost of £47,000. The statue of Nelson at the top was carved from Craigleith sandstone by sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. The four bronze lions around its base, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer, were added in 1867. The pedestal is decorated with four bronze relief panels, each 18 feet square and cast from captured French guns. These panels depict the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen, and the death of Nelson at Trafalgar.

In 2006, the monument was refurbished at a cost of £420,000. During this time, laser surveys revealed that the column was 14 feet 6 inches shorter than previously thought. The whole monument is 169 feet 3 inches tall from the bottom of the pedestal to the top of Nelson's hat. The statue of Nelson is 17 feet tall, a ratio of almost exactly 3:1 to the 5 feet 6 inches height of the real Nelson. The 2006 restoration involved steam cleaning and gentle abrasives to protect the bronze and stonework.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons