Wellington Arch, London, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Team Sieni
N 51° 30.154 W 000° 09.053
30U E 697735 N 5709564
The Wellington Arch was built between 1826-1830 to commemorate Britain's victories in the Napoleonic Wars.
Waymark Code: WM2XF4
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/05/2008
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
Views: 103
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The Wellington Arch was originally a monument to the Sir Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington, and formed a ceremonial entrance to Buckingham Palace. In 1882 the monument was moved away from the palace, in 1912 the statue of Wellesley was removed and replaced with a quadriga (four horse chariot) and lastly, in the 1960s, traffic was routed around it so it is now on an island with traffic racing around it. The story is told here

The enormous 30 ft high statue of Wellington, the UK's largest equestrian statue (it was said to be possible to hold a dinner party in the horse's belly), is now in Aldershot. It was moved because the statue was ridiculously out of scale. The architect of the arch, Matthew Cotes Wyatt, even bequeathed a large sum of money towards removing it from his arch. Queen Victoria waited respectfully for Wellesley to die before clearing away what she considered to be an eyesore.

It is now a rather anonymous looking lump, with an overblown thing perched on top, like an overweight racegoer on Ladies' day at Royal Ascot. It is in a kind of no-mans-land between Hyde Park and Green Park, with the back wall of Buckingham Palace rather rudely turned to it.

A smaller equestrian statue of Wellington stands nearby. No doubt he is quietly fuming that his comrade-in-arms in the Napoleonic wars, Nelson, standing on his column in nearby Trafalgar Square, has so much better a monument.

The arch now contains a small museum.

Type: Triumphal (Monument/Memorial)

Subtype: Military Entrance

Location: Hyde Park Corner, London
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Recent Visits/Logs:
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Einstienium99 visited Wellington Arch, London, UK 04/04/2023 Einstienium99 visited it
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