Nelson’s Column on Glasgow Green (1806)

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Reference WMO/80001

Address:

Glasgow Green

Adjacent to Winter Gardens

Calton

Glasgow

G1

Scotland

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War Memorials Trust case: War Memorials Trust needs to avoid Contributors changing location/description details as we help to protect and conserve this war memorial through our casework. You can still add photographs, update condition and use the tabs below. If you believe any of the information you cannot edit is wrong or information is missing, please make a note of the reference number and include it in your email when you contact us.

Status: On original site
Type: Freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Within a garden/park/churchyard/enclosure/Marketplace
Description: Obelisk
Materials:
  • Stone Stone (any)
Lettering: Incised
Conflicts:
  • Revolutionary/Napoleonic (1792-1815)
About the memorial: Nelson’s Column on Glasgow Green - Category ‘A’ listedShortly after the death of Viscount Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) at the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805), Glasgow raised £2,000 by public subscription to build a 144 foot high stone obelisk and plinth to commemorate this heroic figure. The monument was designed by David Hamilton, built by Andrew Brocket and located on the site of the Herds House in 1806. This was the first monument in Britain to be erected in Nelson’s honour. It was extensively damaged 4 years later in 1810 by a lightning strike which caused the top 6 metres of masonry to collapse, and the remainder was in such danger that a military guard had to be placed around it to keep the public within a safe distance. The foundation stone was laid on Friday 1st August 1806, the anniversary of the Battle of Aboukir. The ceremony saw some 80,000 spectators attend, with all of the public bodies in the city present, including the 23 Masonic Lodges. The ceremony began with a service in the Cathedral, and thereafter, a procession to the Glasgow Green. In the foundation stone, a plate was placed with the following inscription: “By the favour of Almighty God, Sir John Stuart of Allenbank, Baronet, Provincial Grand Master Mason of the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire laid this foundation stone of the monument, erected by the inhabitants of Glasgow, in grateful remembrance of the eminent service of the Right Honourable Horatio, Lord Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte in Sicily, Vice Admiral of the White Squadron of His Majesty’s Fleet. Who, after a series of transcendent and heroic actions, fell gloriously in the Battle off Cape Trafalgar on the 21st October 1805. “This stone was laid on 1st August in the Year of Our Lord 1806, and the 44th year of the reign of our most gracious sovereign, George 3rd in the presence of John Hamilton, Esquire, Lord Provost of the City of Glasgow,'
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A (Scotland)

http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/LB33837

LB33837

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