COLUMNS

The Duke of York's Column

The Duke of York was the second son of King George III. The soldier-prince was not a dashing or victorious commander. Rather, he was a thorough administrator whose extensive labours did much to improve the lot of the ordinary individual soldier and the standing of the Army in society in general.

The money for building his Column (1834) was raised by every officer and soldier in the British Army forfeiting one day's pay; this was in line with the old military tradition of being volunteered . The duke's gaze is reputed to rest on what was then the War Office building in Whitehall. His Royal Highness died deeply in debt; one wag said that on top of his Column his statue would at least be out of the reach of his creditors.

Within the Column there are a set of steps. It used to be possible for members of the public to ascend these. This access ended after rather too many people declined to use the same method to descend.

Location: Carlton House Terrace, SW1Y 5ED (red, pink)

The Monument

St Margaret Fish Street Hill was the first church in the City of London to burn down during the Great Fire of 1666. The parish was united with St Magnus the Martyr. The Monument (1677) was erected on what had been the church's site.

The 202 ft.-tall column has 311 steps within it. The base is 202ft. distant from the site where the Fire broke out. Its location made it the dominating visual presence to anyone who was travelling northwards over the pre-1830s London Bridge.

The Monument commemorates not so much the occurrence of the Fire as the success of Londoners in rebuilding their city within the space of a few years. People were able to ascend the column so as to be able to gaze down upon what had been achieved.

The Monument was designed jointly by Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. They had their own agenda with regard to its construction and they ensured that it had the scope to be used as an instrument for a number of scientific experiments that they were interested in performing. However, the impact of vibrations caused by passing traffic meant that many of these were never carried out. One matter upon which the two men differed with one another was as to what should be placed upon the stucture's summit. Wren believed that it should be capped by a statue of King Charles II, while Hooke was of the opinion that it ought to be flaming urn that would symbolise the Fire. The latter carried the matter. The gilt crown adds a further 42ft. to the column's height.

The railings at the top of the Monument were put in place in 1842 in order to prevent suicides.

Location: The Monument, Monument Street, EC3R 8AH (orange, blue)

Website: www.themonument.info

Nelson's Column

At the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) the naval commander Lord Nelson vanquished a combined Franco-Spanish fleet. The victory gave Britain and her allies the initiative in their struggle against Napoleon. It was widely celebrated at the time. However, the construction of Nelson's Column (1849) did not begin until 1839, 34 years after the sea battle had taken place. That a column was ever erected at all owed something to inter-service rivalry and the building of the Army-funded Duke of York's Column (1834). Nelson's admirers were able to exploit the prior completion of his grace's support to commission a structure that was taller.

The statue of Nelson that stands on top of the Column is over seventeen-feet-tall. It is not a life-size representation. The commander's actual height was nearer to five feet (1.52m) than six (1.83m).

Nelson looks south-westwards towards Portsmouth. His bottom faces the cafe at the top of The National Portrait Gallery.

Location: Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN (purple, grey)

103 New Bond Street, W1Y 6LG. Nelson's home during his 1798 shore-leave. (blue, red)

See Also: THE NAVY Nelson; TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Landseer's Lions

There are four sculpted lions at the Column's base.¹

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer was an animal artist who was not interested in simply painting his subjects. He felt a need to set them in the context of a narrative, of which the painting would be a record of the key dramatic moment. Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating A Distressed Traveller (1820), which was set in St Bernard Pass, created the myth that St Bernards² have a collar around the neck from which hangs a small barrel that contains brandy. The spirit was supposed to help revive travellers who had been caught in the snow.

In 1857 Landseer was offered the commission of sculpting the lions that were to be sited at the foot of Nelson's Column. He accepted the job knowing that he had a limited knowledge of sculptural technique. He spent a decade working on the project. When the quartet was unveiled in 1867 it was greeted as a success. However, by then, critical opinion had swung in favour of the Pre-Raphaelites and Aestheticism so that his own style of painting was passing out of fashion.

Following the announcement of the artist's death, wreaths were placed around the lions heads.

John Flaxman's (1755-1826) memorial to Nelson in St Paul's features a seasick lion.

Website: www.morrissinger.co.uk

¹. Sea-lions would have had a more nautical, if less formal, air to them.

². Properly, mastiffs that have been bred to approximate the extinct true St Bernards.

Seven Dials

Seven Dials is a junction where several roads converge. The original Seven Dials column stood its centre. The surrounding district s development was started by Thomas Neale, who was the Master of Mint during the 1690s.

With time the area acquired a bad reputation for being a slum and thieves den. In 1773 the column was taken down. This was an attempt at social engineering; it was thought that the structure provided a gathering place for anti-social personages. (It does not seem to have been considered that by dismantling it the space for such elements to assemble in was being enlarged.) The structure went on to lead a somewhat peripatetic life. It was finally re-erected on Weybridge Green in deepest, darkest Surrey.

Neale would have developed Clarges Street but he did not have the money

The column that was erected Seven Dials in 1989 is a replica of the original.

Location: Seven Dials, WC2H 9HD (purple, red)

David Backhouse 2024