Standing proudly at the top of William Brown Street on
Commutation Row, is the fluted stone Wellington Monument. A 14 foot statue of
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, cast from cannon guns captured at the
battle of Waterloo, stands on top of an 81 foot column unveiled in 1863.
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| Unveiling of the Wellington Monument, London Illustrated News |
The column stands on a triangular site which was laid out in
1878, between William Brown Street, Islington and Commutation Row. Lime Street
stretches off in front of the 500 foot frontage of St Georges Hall which stands
next to the column.
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| St Johns Church 1890 |
Wellington looks down onto St Johns Gardens the site of the
former St Johns Church and down William brown street with its historic
buildings, the closes to Wellington being the County Sessions House, then The
Walker Art Gallery and Liverpool's Picton Reading Rooms, Central and Hornby
Library, and the Liverpool Museum.
The column has been used in a number of events over the
years which included it being illuminated for Empire Day Celebrations in 1951
and and setting off pyrotechnics during
the 08 Capital of Culture opening ceremony.
Over the years a few
people have been lucky enough to be able to climb to the top of the column and
take a few photographs, and below is a photograph of London Road taken in 1913.
One of our own authors and local historians Ged Fagan has
been fortunate enough to make the ascent to the top and in July 2013 he recorded
the views that we can see from Wellingtons perspective now...
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| The small access door at the foot of the monument |
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| Winding Staircase |
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| Ged Fagan |
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Top of the Wellington Column, the first thing you notice is the railings are right on top of you
and as you step out over a 2ft high wall onto the viewing platform.
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| View from the top |
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| View from the top All images ©Ged Fagan Inacityliving |
Robert F Edwards
