
Wellington's Column, or the Waterloo Memorial, is a monument to the
Duke of Wellington standing on the corner of
William Brown Street and
Lime Street,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
, England. It is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England
The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...
as a designated Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
History
After the Duke's death in 1852, in common with other cities, Liverpool decided to erect a monument to celebrate his achievements. A committee was established to organise public subscriptions, but the money was slow to come in.
A competition was set up in 1856 to find a designer for the column, and this was won by the architect Andrew Lawson of Edinburgh. There were further delays while a suitable site was found, with sites at the top of Duke Street and
Bold Street, in front of the
Adelphi Hotel and
Prince's Park being considered before the eventual location was settled on. In 1861 a second competition, this time for the statue of the Duke, was won by
George Anderson Lawson, brother of the column's designer.
The design of the column and plinth closely resembles that of the
Melville Monument commemorating
Henry Dundas, Lord Melville in
St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, itself loosely modelled on
Trajan's Column in Rome.
The foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1861 by the
Mayor of Liverpool
From 2012 to 2023, the mayor of Liverpool was the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The office was abolished in 2023 and its functions were replaced with the leader of Liverpool City Council.
The mayor of Liverpool was previ ...
. There were further delays during construction of the monument due to subsidence. Although it was inaugurated on 16 May 1863 in a ceremony attended by the Mayor and
Sir William Brown, it was still not complete.
Reliefs depicting Wellington's victories and the charge at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
were still to be added and it was finally completed towards the end of 1865.
[ These delays resulted in its being "a very late example of a column-monument for Britain".][
]
Description
The foundations of the monument are in Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
, the pedestal
A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...
is in granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...
, and the column itself is in Darley Dale sandstone. The overall height of the monument is , the column being high and the statue high. It stands on a stepped base with a square pedestal. On each side of the pedestal is a bronze plaque; at the corners are bronze eagles joined by swags along the sides. Standing on the pedestal is a Roman Doric fluted column. Within the column are 169 steps leading up to a viewing platform. On top of the column is a cylinder surmounted by a cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout.
The word derives, via Ital ...
on which the bronze statue of the Duke stands.[ The statue is made from the melted-down bronze from cannons captured at the Battle of Waterloo.] The Duke holds a scroll in his right hand, and his left hand rests on the hilt of his sword.[
The brass plaque on the south of the pedestal is a ]relief
Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
depicting the final charge at the battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...
. On the east and west faces, the plaques bear the names of the Duke's victorious battles. The east panel lists the battles of Assaye, Talavera, Argaum, Busaco, Roliça, Fuentes de Oñoro, Vimeiro, Ciudad Rodrigo
Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district.
The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky r ...
, Oporto, and Badajoz
Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...
; the west panel Salamanca
Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
, Bayonne
Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...
, Vittoria, Orthez, San Sebastián
San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...
, Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
, Nivelle, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo.[ Also on and around the base of the monument are pre-metric standard ]Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
measurements of length, the shorter ones being embossed on a bronze panel. Set into the pavement is a brass strip containing the measure of , and a chain of 100 links.[
]
See also
* Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool – City Centre
References
{{Authority control
Columns related to the Napoleonic Wars
Grade II* listed buildings in Liverpool
Outdoor sculptures in Liverpool
Monumental columns in England
Monuments and memorials in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
Buildings and structures completed in 1865
1865 sculptures
Bronze sculptures in England
Statues in England
Grade II* listed monuments and memorials
Observation towers in the United Kingdom