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Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, City of London

Coordinates:51°30′39″N0°5′16″W/ 51.51083°N 0.08778°W/51.51083; -0.08778
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"Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, Royal Exchange" redirects here. For the statue in Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, seeEquestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington, Glasgow.For other monuments to Wellington, seeList of monuments to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

Equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington
The statue in 2014
Map
ArtistFrancis Leggatt Chantrey
Year18 June 1844(1844-06-18)
MediumBronze
SubjectArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
LocationLondon
Coordinates51°30′39″N0°5′16″W/ 51.51083°N 0.08778°W/51.51083; -0.08778

Theequestrian statue of the Duke of Wellingtonis an outdoor sculpture ofArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,aBritishsoldier and statesman, located at theRoyal Exchangein London.[1]It overlooksBank junctionin the historicCity of London.The sculptor wasFrancis Leggatt Chantrey.[2]The statue commemorates Wellington's assistance to the City of London in ensuring that a bill was passed to allow the rebuilding ofLondon Bridge.[3]

The base of the statue is a ventilation shaft forBank and Monument stationson theLondon Underground.It was converted during expansion of Bank station in 1994.[4]

History

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While sitting for a later portrait byCharles Robert Leslie,Wellington recalled that Chantrey had told him he had a square head.[5]After Chantrey's sudden death his studio assistantHenry Weekescompleted the sculpture.[6][1]

Wellington attended the unveiling of his statue on 18 June 1844.[2][7]The date was chosen to commemorate theBattle of Waterloo,where Wellington led an allied army to victory againstNapoleon,in 1815.[8]Frederick Augustus II,King of Saxony,who was in London visitingQueen Victoria,also attended the unveiling.[8]

Description

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Close-up of the statue in 2004

Theequestrian statuewas erected to show the City's gratitude for Wellington's help in assisting the passage of the London Bridge Approaches Act 1827. This Act led to the creation ofKing William Street.

"Wellington" is inscribed on each side of the plinth; on its ends is the inscription "Erected June 18, 1844". A brass plaque at the plinth's base reads:

On 19th July 1838 the Court of Common Council of the City of London agreed to a contribution of £500 toward the cost of the above statue of the Duke of Wellington in appreciation of his efforts in assisting the passage of the London Bridge Approaches Act 1827. This Act led to the creation of King William Street. The government donated the metal, which is bronze from captured enemy cannon melted down after the Battle of Waterloo, and valued at the time at £1500. The total cost of the statue was £9000. The remainder being raised by public subscription.

The sculptor, Sir Francis Chantrey (1781 to 1841), was commissioned in 1838 but died before the work was completed. It was finished by his assistant Henry Weekes (1807 to 1877).
The Lord Mayor, William Magnay, unveiled the statue on 18th June 1844, the anniversary of Waterloo, in the presence of his guest the King of Saxony.

Adjoining the statue, a piece of granite from London Bridge (1825 to 1967) has been set into the pavement by the Corporation of London. The elevational stonework from the same bridge was re-erected over the Colorado River in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, in 1971.[1]

References

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  1. ^abc"Statue: Duke of Wellington statue – EC2".LondonRemembers.com.Retrieved22 September2014.
  2. ^abMargaret Baker (2002).Discovering London Statues and Monuments.Osprey Publishing. p. 151.ISBN978-0-7478-0495-6.
  3. ^"Open air sculpture and monuments in the City of London".Archived fromthe originalon 31 August 2012.Retrieved3 February2016.
  4. ^Lavers, Lucy; Ovens, Judy; Prizeman, Suzanna (2021).Inventive Vents: A Gazetteer of London's Ventilation Shafts.Our Hut.ISBN978-1-527298-17-0.
  5. ^George Robert Gleig (1865).The life of Arthur, Duke of Wellington.Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer. p. 442.
  6. ^"Stevens T. 'Weekes, Henry (1807–1877)',Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(2004) ".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28969.Retrieved22 September2014.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  7. ^John Timbs (1852).Wellingtoniana: anecdotes, maxims, and characteristics, of the duke of Wellington, selected by J. Timbs.p. 66.
  8. ^abEffingham Wilson (1844).Wilson's Description of the New Royal Exchange, Including an Historical Notice of the Former Edifices: And a Brief Memoir of Sir Thomas Gresham, Knt., Founder of the Original Burse in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth...E. Wilson. pp. 114–116.
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