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Nelson’s Column Facts & Worksheets

Nelson’s Column, located in Trafalgar Square, honors Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar.

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Nelson’s Column, a memorial in Trafalgar Square in Westminster, Central London, was erected to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s victory against the combined French and Spanish vessels at the Battle of Trafalgar, when he was shot by a French sniper and killed.

See the fact file below for more information about Nelson’s Column, or you can download our 28-page worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Facts

CONSTRUCTION AND HISTORY OF NELSON’S COLUMN

  • Publicly funded, 121 nobles, MPs, and other aristocracy formed an assembly to build a monument to Lord Nelson in February 1838. The government offered a spot in Trafalgar Square, in front of the new National Gallery. Budgets for design contests ranged from £20,000 to £30,000. January 31, 1839, was the submission deadline. The subcommittee, led by the Duke of Wellington, selected William Railton’s Corinthian Column with a Nelson statue and four carved lions as the winner. Steps rose between the two lions to the column base. Several more participants submitted column designs. Edward Hodges Baily earned second with his sculpture-surrounded obelisk.
  • Rerunning the tournament after criticism of its organization, Railton won again with a slightly altered design, but Bailey had to build the Nelson monument. Due to stability issues, the Column was lowered to a height of 170 feet (52 m) with an opening of 98 feet (30 m) from 203 feet (62 m), incorporating the base and statue. Granite was required for the base, and Craigleith sandstone for the shaft. Granite was chosen for the shaft before building started.
  • By July 1840, the digging of brick structures began. The Nautical Magazine said that Charles Davison Scott, honorary chairman of the committee, laid the first stone of the column “in a quiet way, owing to the noblemen and gentlemen constituting the group being away from the city” on September 30, 1840. The monument was built by builders Grissell and Peto over a period of time, and the masonry for the statue was not finished until November 1843.
  • After raising just £20,485 in public donations, the Nelson Memorial Commission ran short of money in 1844, and the government took up the project via the Office of Woods and Forests. In late 1849, John Edward Carew’s representation of Nelson’s death was installed on the pedestal’s side facing Whitehall, marking the beginning of the bronze reliefs. 
  • William F. Woodington’s opposite-side Nile battlefield relief came early the following year. Carew’s relief was cast by Adams, Christie, & Co. After the bronze of The Battle of Cape St. Vincent, the last to be created, was found to contain iron, the casting company was sued. The unfinished relief was purchased by a rival firm, Robinson & Cottam, who completed and installed it in May 1854. 
  • Three slabs of Craigleith grade sandstone provided by Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, fifth Duke of Buccleuch, previous Nelson Memorial Commission leader, from his Granton stone mine in Edinburgh, were used to sculpt the 17-foot (5.2-meter) figure at the summit by Edward Hodges Baily, R.A. A fluted column made of granite from Dartmoor’s Foggintor quarry supports the statue. 
  • At Woolwich Arsenal, bronze guns from HMS Royal George wreck were cast into the Corinthian capital. C. H. Smith modeled it after Rome’s Temple of Mars Ultor. The bronze components, some weighing 900 pounds (410 kg), are attached to the Column by three enormous metal belts in stone grooves. Hitler saw the Column as symbolic. If Operation Sea Lion into Britain had succeeded, Hitler would have taken it to Berlin. 

LIONS

  • Sir Edwin Landseer and Carlo Marochetti created the placed statues. Queen Victoria loved Landseer’s paintings. They may have been inspired by Marschalko János’s lions at each Széchenyi Chain Bridge abutment six years before the Trafalgar Square lions were built. 
  • The Trafalgar Square base on Nelson’s Column has one of Sir Edwin Landseer’s four lion statues. From the bustling Strand-Pall Mall route, this is the south-west lion. All four corners have rectangular plinths with almost similar lions. Each one is 20 feet long and 22 feet high, with just minor differences in mane flow and head tilt. They were the “biggest and most expensive project with which Landseer was associated.”
  • The Turin lion castings ordered by Landseer arrived in 1860. He sketched lions at the London Zoo and obtained a body to work with. Delays in completing the work led to deterioration of the body, resulting in distortions of its form.
  • The sculptured lion’s back is concave, and its paws are cat-like. The statues were erected in 1867. Landseer earned £6,000 and Marochetti £11,000. In all these ways, Landseer’s animals differ from Thomas Milnes’ Trafalgar Square lions. These realistic stone sculptures are exquisite in every aspect. Tourists climbing on the lions’ backs caused significant damage, prompting Greater London Authority specialists to suggest prohibiting it in 2011. 

REFURBISHMENT OF NELSON’S COLUMN

  • The Column was sandblasted in 1968. Scaffolding the Column from top to bottom allowed access and maintenance during its 2006 refurbishment. Steam washing and mild abrasives protected the metal and masonry. Zurich Financial Services, which marketed on the scaffolding, paid £420,000. Laser studies showed the Column was much shorter than the average 185 ft (56.4 m) before repair. It is 169 feet (51.5 meters) from the initial step to the admiral’s cap. 

PUBLICITY STUNTS AND PROTESTS

  • Blue Peter star John Noakes ascended the Column in 1977. On LWT’s Six O’Clock Show in 1989, Gary Wilmot recreated the 1843 ‘topping out’ event by climbing the Column. Wilmot, wearing a boater hat and Victorian clothing, ate tea and sandwiches atop the Column before descending. 
  • The Column has been climbed multiple times to raise awareness for political or social causes. The first such ascent was by Anti-Apartheid Movement member Ed Drummond in 1978, using the lightning conductor. On March 30, 1988, Greenpeace Movement against Acid Rain members Joe Simpson and John Stevenson ascended the Column. In opposition to the inaugural Earth Summit conference in Brazil, Greenpeace’s Martin Cotterrel, Joe Simpson, and John Stevenson ascended it on June 14, 1992. 
  • Free-climbing Nelson’s Column with Noel Craine, Jerry Moffatt, and Johnny Dawes on the top line on April 13, 1995, Simon Nadin rated it “E6 6b/5a.” Survival International was the organization that sponsored this rally to raise awareness about the Canadian Inuit. Greenpeace activists Al Baker, Peter Morris, and John Cunningham mounted the Column on May 13, 1998, to voice their opposition to the logging of old-growth forests in British Columbia. To protest the Chinese Tibet policy, BASE flyer and stuntman Gary Connery plunged from the Column in May 2003. Disney spent £24,000 to light it up like a giant lightsaber to advertise Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December 2015. At dawn on April 18, 2016, Greenpeace activists mounted the Column and put a breathing mask on a monument of Admiral Lord Nelson to protest air pollution. 
  • In 1806, Glasgow Green in Scotland added the 44-meter-tall Nelson Monument, the first public tribute honoring Nelson. Also in Scotland, Nelson’s Tower in Forres, located in Moray, was begun in 1806 and finished in 1812. Atop Calton Hill in Edinburgh is the Nelson Monument. Irish republicans demolished Nelson’s Pillar in 1966, built in 1808. There is a Grade II* protected bronze monument of Nelson by Richard Westmacott in Birmingham’s Bull Ring, dated 1809. Westmacott created Liverpool’s ornate Nelson memorial. When HMS Victory returned to Portsmouth, it financed Nelson’s Needle on Portsdown Hill. 
  • An urn-topped column at Castle Green, Hereford, was intended to be replaced with a figure, but insufficient funds prevented this. Doric columns form the 144-foot Britannia Monument at Great Yarmouth, England. Internationally, Nelson’s Column in Montreal was built by the British and Canadians in 1809, and Mount Nelson lies near Invermere in British Columbia. The admiral faces the waters on Montreal’s Column, like in London. Lord Nelson’s small statue at the city’s Trafalgar Square is older than London’s. 

Nelson’s Column Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Nelson’s Column across 28 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about Nelson’s Column. Publicly funded, 121 nobles, MPs, and other aristocracy formed an assembly to build a monument to Lord Nelson in February 1838. The government offered a spot in Trafalgar Square, in front of the new National Gallery.

Nelson's Column Worksheets
Nelson's Column Worksheets
Nelson's Column Worksheets
Nelson's Column Worksheets
Nelson's Column Worksheets

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Nelson’s Column (UK)Facts
  2. Monumental Timeline
  3. Column Unlocked!
  4. Builders Behind
  5. Fact or Fabrication?
  6. Construction Terms
  7. #FundingTheFame
  8. Roaring Across Nation
  9. Climbers with a Cause
  10. The Lions’ Meaning
  11. Blueprint of History

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Nelson’s Column and why was it built?

Nelson’s Column is a victory monument in Trafalgar Square, London, built to honor Admiral Horatio Nelson. It commemorates his leadership and death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where the British Royal Navy defeated French and Spanish fleets without losing a single ship.

Where is Nelson’s Column located?

It stands in the center of Trafalgar Square, one of London’s most famous public spaces. The square is surrounded by landmarks such as the National Gallery, St Martin-in-the-Fields church, and Canada House.

How tall is Nelson’s Column?

The monument is 169 feet 3 inches (51.59 meters) tall, making it one of the tallest in London. The column itself is made of granite, topped with a bronze statue of Nelson.

Who designed Nelson’s Column?

The column was designed by William Railton, while the statue of Nelson was sculpted by Edward Hodges Baily. Other artists, including Sir Edwin Landseer and several sculptors, contributed to the bronze reliefs and decorative elements.

When was Nelson’s Column built and completed?

Construction began in 1840 and was completed in 1843. It was officially opened in 1843, nearly 40 years after Nelson’s death.

References

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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