Duke of York - Waterloo Place, London, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Master Mariner
N 51° 30.379 W 000° 07.905
30U E 699046 N 5710032
This statue is mounted on top of a column. There used to be access to the viewing platform that would have given splendid views over London. Alas this is now closed.
Waymark Code: WMC4AX
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/24/2011
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member 3am
Views: 23
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he Duke of York Column is a monument in London, England, to Prince Frederick, Duke of York, the second eldest son of King George III. The designer was Benjamin Dean Wyatt. It is located near where Regent Street meets The Mall at Waterloo Place, in between the two terraces of Carlton House Terrace—the steps down to the Mall are known as the Duke of York Steps. The column was chiseled from pink granite, and the bronze statue, 14 feet high, created by Sir Richard Westmacott in 1834. The statue is facing southeast, towards the The Mall and St. James's Park.

Prince Frederick, Duke of York was the commander-in-chief of the British Army during the French Revolutionary Wars and led the reform of the army into a capable modernised force. The Duke is remembered in the children's nursery rhyme, "The Grand Old Duke of York". When he died in 1827, the entire British Army voted to forgo one day's wages in order to pay for a monument to the Duke. The column was started in 1833 and finished one year later. Inside the hollow column a spiral staircase leads to the viewing platform around the base of the statue. This means of ascent has been closed to the public for many decades.

The great height of the column - 123 feet 6 inches (37.64 m) - caused wits to suggest that the Duke was trying to escape his creditors, as the Duke died £2 million in debt.

Text source: (visit link)

Commemorative column and town planning focal point with steps down to the Mall and St James's Park. 1831-34, the column designed by Benjamin Wyatt, the bronze statue of the Duke by Sir Richard Westmacott, the layout with the great flight of steps as the terminal feature of Nash's Via Triumphalis, on the site of Carlton House, with the palatial Carlton House Terrace ranges flanking the composition. Granite column and steps, bronze statue. The giant column is of the Tuscan order and rises from a square pedestal; the capital carries a square balcony, drum and dome (on the model of Wren's Monument) surmounted by statue of the Duke in uniform.

Text source: (visit link)
URL of the statue: [Web Link]
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