Nelson's Column

In the center of Trafalgar Square stands London's most famous monument: Nelson's Column. The monument was built in 1843 as a tribute to Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, who defeated the French fleet(led by Napoleon) at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Admiral Nelson was fatally wounded during that famous battle off the Spanish coast. His body was transported back to London and buried in the St. Paul's Cathedral.

In the 1830s plans for Trafalgar Square, an expansive public square in the heart of the city, started to take shape .A total of 124 entries were submitted. The winning entry was submitted by William Railton, an English architect. Railton's proposal called for a 52 meter tall monument consisting of a soaring Corinthian column topped with a large statue of Horatio Nelson and guarded by four massive lions. Construction of the monument started in 1841 and was completed in 1843 when the sandstone statue of Nelson was placed on top of the column.

Crimean War Memorial

The Guards Crimean War Memorial is a  memorial in St James's London, that commemorates the Britain, Turkey and France’s victory in the Crimean War of 1853–56. It is located on Waterloo Place, at the junction of Regent Street and Pall Mall. Its sculptor is John Bell (1811-1895) and this monument is his best-known work. The sculpture was erected in 1861. On a granite base, the statue is composed of three Guardsmen. One of these is a Coldstream, one Grenadier and one Fusilier. It is the first war memorial to focus on the ordinary soldier rather than a commander. Above the group of 3 Guardsmen in front, on taller granite pedestal there is a young female allegorical figure with open arms referred to as Honour and Victory. The statues were cast in bronze from the cannons captured at the siege of Sebastopol.

Just a few yards below are other 2 imposing statues :The sculpture of Florence Nightingale (a famous nurse, she  treated soldiers in this war) and  the sculpture of Sidney Herbert (who was Secretary at War).

The Wellington Arch and The Marble Arch

Following the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, Emperor Napoleon faced defeat in 1815 by the Duke of Wellington ( the Iron Duke) at the Battle of Waterloo. The Wellington Arch, on the southeast corner of Hyde Park, and Marble Arch, on the northeast corner, commemorates Britain’s victories in the Napoleonic Wars.

Both Wellington Arch and Marble Arch were designed to form entrance gates to the newly built Buckingham Place, although both have since been relocated. They form part of the group of contemporary grand neoclassical building projects of the generation after the Battle of Waterloo, when Britain’s governing classes felt moved to embellish London to reflect the city and country’s wealth and international status

The Wellington Arch was designed in the 1825 by Decimus Burton,despite its lofty position, it is made with immense attention to detail and finish, by a sculptor with an unrivalled understanding of equine anatomy. The Marble Arch was designed in 1827 by John Nash Detailed carvings and sculptures that sat above each archway have since been removed and placed elsewhere.