The Duke of York Column is a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

in London, England, to

Prince Frederick, Duke of York Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profess ...

, the second eldest son of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. The designer was

Benjamin Dean Wyatt Benjamin Dean Wyatt (1775–1852) was an English architect, part of the Wyatt family. Early life He was the son and pupil of the architect James Wyatt, and the brother of Matthew Cotes Wyatt. Before setting up as an architect in 1809, he joine ...

. It is sited where

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Plac ...

meets The Mall, a purposefully wide endpoint of Regent Street known as Waterloo Place and Gardens, in between the two terraces of Carlton House Terrace and their tree-lined squares. The three very wide flights of steps down to The Mall adjoining are known as the Duke of York Steps. The column was completed in December 1832 and the statue of the Duke of York, by Sir

Richard Westmacott Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor. Life and career Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going t ...

, was raised on 10 April 1834.

History

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profe ...

was the commander-in-chief of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

and led the reform of the army into a capable modernised force. The Duke is remembered in the children's

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From ...

, "

The Grand Old Duke of York "The Grand Old Duke of York" (also sung as The Noble Duke of York) is an English children's nursery rhyme, often performed as an action song. The eponymous duke has been argued to be a number of the bearers of that title, particularly Prince Fred ...

". When he died in 1827, the entire British Army by general consensus following a proposal of the senior officers, forwent one day's wages to pay for a monument to the Duke. When the sum of subscriptions for a monument to the duke reached £21,000 (), the committee overseeing the project asked a number of architects to submit proposals, and in December 1830 they chose a design by Benjamin Dean Wyatt. The mason Nowell of Pimlico, was contracted to build the column for a sum of £15,760. Excavations for the concrete foundations began on 27 April 1831. The ground was excavated to a layer of natural soil, around below street level. A layer of York stone slabs at a depth of around was used to consolidate the concrete, and another was placed at the top of the foundations, as a base for the masonry. The foundations were completed on 25 June 1831, and construction of the stonework began three weeks later. On 7 May 1850, Henri Joseph Stephan, a horn player in

Benjamin Lumley Benjamin Lumley (1811 – 17 March 1875 in London) was a Canadian-born British opera manager and solicitor. Born Benjamin Levy, he was the son of a Jewish merchant, Louis Levy. Beginnings at His Majesty's Theatre Lumley's father was a clothes-de ...

's orchestra at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

, committed suicide by falling from the public gallery at the top of the column.

Description

The column is of the

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...

. It is built of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

from

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

; a light grey variety was used for the pedestal, a bluer grey type for the base of the shaft, and 'red' Peterhead granite (warm beige) for the rest of the structure. There is an iron railing around the

abacus The abacus (''plural'' abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hi ...

of the capital (narrow main shaft). On top of the column, on a plinth, is a bronze statue of the duke dressed in the robes of the

Knights of the Garter A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

, by Sir Richard Westmacott. It is tall, weighs and was raised to the top on 8 April 1834. The total height of the monument to the top of the statue is . The statue faces south southeast, and from its base also are views of The Mall and

St. James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...

. Inside the hollow column a spiral staircase of 168 steps, lit by narrow apertures in the wall, leads to the viewing platform around the base of the statue. Given the small, fragile platform and previous high demand for climbing, this staircase has been closed to the public for many decades. The great height of the column caused contemporary wits to suggest that the Duke was trying to escape his creditors, as the Duke died £2 million in debt. The high very wide central section t-road it sits in was designed by architect John Nash as London's in the 1815–1820 period. Wealthy nobles desirous of a central London home followed by politicians such as

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...

lived in its Grade I-listed terraces described as 'palatial' by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

References

Bibliography

*
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
, ''The Mechanic's Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal and Gazette'', Vol. 574, 9 August 1834, pp. 306–311 – a contemporary report on the building of the monument.

External links

* {{Richard Westmacott Monuments and memorials in London Monumental columns in London Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade I listed monuments and memorials Cultural infrastructure completed in 1834 Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Statues in England Buildings and structures on The Mall, London Sculptures by Richard Westmacott