Wellington Statue, Aldershot - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Wellington Statue in Aldershot

Aldershot

Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...

is a monument to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

victor at the Battle of Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

and later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sculpted by Matthew Cotes Wyatt

Matthew Cotes Wyatt

Matthew Cotes Wyatt was a painter and sculptor and a member of the Wyatt family, who were well-known in the Victorian era as architects and sculptors.-Early life:...

, it was the largest equestrian statue in Britain when it was unveiled at its original location at Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...

in 1846.

Origins of the statue

The origins of the statue date back to the end of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, when various memorials to the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

victory were being built, including Nelson's Column

Nelson's Column

Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in central London built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian...

in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...

and the victory arch at Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...

. In 1837 a Committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Duke of Rutland

Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland

Charles Manners, 6th Duke of Rutland KG , styled Marquess of Granby before 1857, was an English Conservative politician.-Background and education:...

to raise sufficient funds for a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

. The sculptor was Matthew Cotes Wyatt

Matthew Cotes Wyatt

Matthew Cotes Wyatt was a painter and sculptor and a member of the Wyatt family, who were well-known in the Victorian era as architects and sculptors.-Early life:...

. In the statue the Duke is shown on Copenhagen, the famous charger that he had ridden at Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

. Much of the bronze in the Statue is derived from French cannon captured at Waterloo and remelted in Wyatt's foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

. Wellington himself sat for the sculptor. Copenhagen, however, had died and a substitute horse was used as a model, which offended many at the time who saw a poor likeness to Copenhagen in the statue.

The work was executed at Wyatt's workshop at Dudley House in the Harrow Road starting in May 1840. The modelling work was done by Wyatt's son James Wyatt. The model consumed more than three tons of plaster of Paris formed over a timber frame with a beam for the backbone and transverse timbers like the ribs of a ship. The model was on a turntable 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter and the artists could reach all parts of it by means of an adjustable stage that could be raised and lowered. The modelling work took three years.

For casting, the model was lowered into a pit in a specially built foundry. The statue was cast in bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

that was melted in two furnaces; one furnace could melt twelve tons at a time, but this was insufficient, so a second furnace of 20 tons capacity was constructed. Even so, the body of the horse and the lower limbs of the duke were cast in two pieces and the rest of the statue was cast in a further six pieces all between 1 and 3 in (25.4 and 76.2 mm) thick. The legs of the horse were cast solid so as to bear the great weight.

At the time it was the largest equestrian statue in Britain, being 30 feet (9.1 m) high, 26 feet (7.9 m) from Copenhagen's nose to tail, and 22 in 8 in (6.91 m) in girth. It weighed 40 ton

Ton

The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

s. In 1846 the statue was moved with great pagaentry from Wyatt's workshop to Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...

. It was moved on a huge low carriage that had wheels 10 feet (3 m) in diameter and had been constructed by H. M. Dockyards at Woolwich. The carriage was hauled by a hundred men of the Scots Fusilier Guards; as it emerged onto the road, it was greeted by enthusiastic cheers from the crowd of sightseers. Twenty nine horses then drew the carriage to Hyde Park Corner. It took some hours to get the statue into position for hoisting and the final lift and fixing into position on the as yet unfinished victory arch was completed the following day.

Move to Aldershot

Many thought the Statue out of proportion to the arch, and Queen Victoria regarded it as an eyesore, marring the view from Buckingham Palace; however, it could not be tactfully moved during the lifetime of the Duke of Wellington, who would have seen such a move as an insult.

When Wellington Arch

Wellington Arch

Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or the Green Park Arch, is a triumphal arch located to the south of Hyde Park in central London and at the north western corner of Green Park...

, also known as 'Constitution Arch' or (originally) the 'Green Park Arch', was moved in 1882-3 a short distance to its present location on Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner

Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...

, the Statue of the Duke was removed and left in Green Park while its future location was debated. In 1883 the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, suggested that it should be moved to Aldershot Military Town, "where it will be highly regarded by the Army." Eventually Parliament agreed with his suggestion and the statue was taken to Aldershot for reassembly. Its removal from the arch was a relief to the many critics who had considered it out of proportion and inappropropriate for such a location.

On a visit to Aldershot, the Prince of Wales selected Round Hill close by the Royal Garrison Church as the new site for the Statue. Moving Wyatt's creation from London was no mean feat. However, it was successfully and ceremoniously handed to the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

in August 1885 in front of a large crowd of onlookers.

Restoration

The statue fell into a poor state of repair in the last half of the twentieth century, being largely hidden behind overgrown trees and bushes on Round Hill. In early 2004 Aldershot Garrison, supported by local conservation groups and volunteers, commenced a major restoration project to restore it to its original condition. The bushes were cleared and the statue was re-bronzed. The Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum

Aldershot Military Museum

Aldershot Military Museum in Aldershot Military Town in Hampshire was conceived by former Aldershot Garrison Commander, the late Brigadier John Reed. The Museum was opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester in 1984 and is housed in the only two surviving barrack bungalows built in the "North Camp" area...

have taken on the role of 'Friends of the Statue' , supported by Aldershot Garrison, Rushmoor Council and the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership.

External links

The Wellington Statue - Aldershot Military Museum
Aldershot Military Museum
Aldershot Military Museum in Aldershot Military Town in Hampshire was conceived by former Aldershot Garrison Commander, the late Brigadier John Reed. The Museum was opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester in 1984 and is housed in the only two surviving barrack bungalows built in the "North Camp" area...

.
Wellington Statue Project Friends of Aldershot Military Museum
The Wellington Statue

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Origins of the statue

Move to Aldershot

Restoration

See also

External links