Nelson's Column

Nelson's Column stands in Trafalgar Square, London, commemorating Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Designed by the architect William Railton with a statue by the sculptor Edward Hodges Baily, the granite column was built between 1840 and 1843 and rises about 169 feet including the statue, topped by a bronze Corinthian capital cast from captured French cannon. The column's pedestal is decorated with bronze relief panels also cast from captured guns, depicting scenes from Nelson's battles, and since 1867 it has been guarded at its base by four bronze lion statues designed by the painter Edwin Landseer.