UK - London - Trafalgar Square: Nelson's Column

Nelson's column, the centerpiece of Trafalgar Square, was built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The 5.5m (18ft) statue of Nelson, by H.H. Bailey stands on top of a 46 m (151 ft) granite column. The statue faces south, towards the Palace of Westminster and along Pall Mall, where his ships are represented on the top of each flagpole. The top of the Corinthian column (based on one from the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome) is decorated with bronze acanthus leaves cast from British cannons. The square pedestal is decorated with four bronze panels, cast from captured French guns, depicting Nelson's four great victories.

The impressively sized reliefs on the base of the column are by Ternouth, Woodington, Watson and Carew. The enormous lions are by Landseer, and have been the subject of much criticism, though they seem appropriate enough today.

The monument was designed by architect William Railton in 1838, and built by the firm Peto & Grissell. Railton's original 1:22-scale stone model is exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London. The sandstone statue at the top was sculpted by E.H. Baily, a member of the Royal Academy; a small bronze plaque crediting him is at the base of the statue. The four bronze panels around the pedestal were undertaken by the sculptors Musgrave Watson, John Ternouth, William F Woodington, and John Edward Carew. The entire monument was built at a cost of 47,500 pounds, or 3.5 million pounds in 2004 terms.

The fountains were not part of Sir Charles Barry's original plan for Trafalgar Square. In 145 Barry added two red, polished granite fountains in response to the fears that crowds might gather in the otherwise large open space. In 1938, Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned to remodel the fountains, which are faced with blue tiles to enhance the water's reflections and contain bronze figures of tritons, mermaids and dolphins.