Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, is commemorated by Nelson’s Column that towers over London’s Trafalgar Square.  It was constructed between 1840 and 1843 at a cost of £47,000.  It consists of a granite Corinthian column, with an 18 ft 1 in (5.5 m) sandstone statue of Nelson atop.

The monument underwent a serious refurbishment in 2006 at a cost of £420,000, at which time it was also surveyed and measured.  Either it has shrunk with age or the original measurements were inaccurate, as it now measures 169 feet (51.5 m) from the bottom of the first step to the tip of the Horatio’s hat, when it was originally claimed to be 185 feet (56.4 m).

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Copyright Debbie Smyth, 4 February 2016