Exchange Flags, the open square to the north of Liverpool’s Town Hall, has been home to the Nelson Monument since 1866 – though the monument itself dates back further, having been unveiled on 21 October 1813, the eighth anniversary of Admiral Horatio Nelson’s death at the Battle of Trafalgar. At 29 feet (8.8 m) tall with a base circumference of 95 feet 4 inches (29.1 m), it is one of the more substantial public monuments in the city centre.
Origins and Construction
Liverpool City Council resolved in 1805 to mark Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar with a permanent memorial, voting £1,000 towards costs. A public subscription was launched and within two months had raised £8,930 – roughly £670,000 in today’s money – with contributions from Lloyd’s underwriters (£750) and the West India Association (£500). A design competition followed, won by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, son of architect James Wyatt. Wyatt was relatively inexperienced at the time and worked alongside sculptor Richard Westmacott. The contract was signed in 1809, the first stone laid on 15 July 1812 and the monument unveiled the following year. In 1866, to allow for an extension to the Exchange Buildings, the structure was relocated to its current position in Exchange Flags and its original Westmorland stone base replaced with granite.
Design and Symbolism
The bronze statue rests on a drum-shaped pedestal in Westmorland marble, itself standing on a granite basement. Four bronze figures of manacled prisoners are seated around the pedestal, each representing one of Nelson’s major victories – Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. Between them, four bronze bas-reliefs depict other naval engagements in which Nelson took part. Above the prisoner figures, swags of laurel hang from lions’ heads, with chains descending from rings in the lions’ mouths to manacle the figures below. The cornice above carries the inscription ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN TO DO HIS DUTY. On top of the pedestal is a bronze figural group 14 feet 2 inches (4.3 m) high, with each of the five figures standing around 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, surrounded by captured flags arranged in a pyramidal composition.
Later History
During the Second World War, a ventilation shaft was constructed beneath the monument to supply airflow into a bunker under Exchange Flags housing Western Approaches Command. More recently, for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest celebrations held in Liverpool, the monument was surrounded by 2,500 sandbags as part of an art installation called Protect the Beats – a reference to statues in Ukraine covered up to shield them from damage during the Russian invasion.