On the corner of William Brown Street and Lime Street, Wellington’s Column – also known as the Waterloo Memorial – rises 132 feet above street level, one of Liverpool’s most recognisable landmarks. Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England, the column honours the Duke of Wellington and took over a decade to complete from foundation stone to final relief panel.
A long road to completion
Following Wellington’s death in 1852, Liverpool joined other British cities in planning a monument to mark his achievements. A public subscription committee was formed, though funds came in slowly. A design competition in 1856 was won by Edinburgh architect Andrew Lawson, and a second competition in 1861, this time for the statue itself, was won by George Anderson Lawson – the architect’s brother. Finding an acceptable site proved difficult; locations at the top of Duke Street, Bold Street, in front of the Adelphi Hotel and at Prince’s Park were all considered before the current corner was chosen. The foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1861 by the Mayor of Liverpool, but subsidence caused further delays during construction. The monument was inaugurated on 16 May 1863, with the mayor and Sir William Brown in attendance, yet it remained unfinished. The bronze relief panels depicting Wellington’s victories and the charge at Waterloo were only added towards the end of 1865, making it, by any measure, a very late example of a column-monument for Britain.
Materials, structure and the statue
The foundations are in Runcorn sandstone, the pedestal in granite, and the column itself in Darley Dale sandstone. A stepped base supports a square pedestal decorated with bronze plaques on each face and bronze eagles at the corners, connected by swags. Above the pedestal rises a Roman Doric fluted column, 81 feet tall, containing 169 steps up to a viewing platform. The column’s design closely follows that of the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh, which was itself loosely based on Trajan’s Column in Rome. On top sits a cylinder and cupola, upon which the 25-foot bronze statue of the Duke stands. The statue was cast from cannon bronze captured at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellington holds a scroll in his right hand, with his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The south pedestal plaque shows the final charge at Waterloo in relief, while the east and west panels list his victorious battles – among them Assaye, Talavera, Salamanca and Badajoz.