Wellington's Column, or the Waterloo Memorial, is a monument to the Duke of Wellington standing on the corner of William Brown Street and Lime Street, Liverpool, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.
After the Duke's death in 1852, in common with other cities, Liverpool decided to erect a monument to celebrate his achievements. A committee was established to organise public subscriptions, but the money was slow to come in. A design competition was set up in 1856 to find a sculptor for the column, and this was won by Andrew Lawson of Edinburgh. There were further delays while a suitable site was found, and in 1861 a second competition, this time for the statue of the Duke, was won by George Anderson Lawson, brother of the sculptor. The foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1861 by the Mayor of Liverpool. There were further delays during construction of the monument due to subsidence, and it was finally completed towards the end of 1865. The delays resulted in its being "a very late example of a column-monument for Britain".
The foundations of the monument are in Runcorn sandstone, the pedestal is in granite, and the column itself is in Darley Dale stone. The overall height of the monument is 132 feet (40.2 m), the column being 81 feet (24.7 m) high and the statue 25 feet (7.6 m) high. It stands on a stepped base with a square pedestal. On each side of the pedestal is a bronze plaque; at the corners are bronze eagles joined by swags along the sides. Standing on the pedestal is a Roman Doric fluted column. Within the column are 169 steps leading up to a viewing platform. On top of the column is a cylinder surmounted by a cupola on which the bronze statue of the Duke stands. The statue is made from the melted-down bronze from cannons captured at the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke holds a scroll in his right hand, and his left hand rest on the hilt of his sword.
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William Brown Street in Liverpool, England is a road that is remarkable for its concentration of public buildings. It is sometimes referred to as the "Cultural Quarter"
Originally known as Shaw's Brow, a coaching road east from the city, it is named after William Brown, a local MP and philanthropist, who in 1860 donated land in the area for the building of a library and museum. This area gives its name as the William Brown Street conservation area.
The conservation area contains:
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The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England. It comprises six locations in the city centre of Liverpool including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street, and includes many of the city's most famous landmarks.
UNESCO received the city council's nomination for the six sites in January 2003 and in September of that year sent ICOMOS representatives to carry out an evaluation on the eligibility for these areas to be given World Heritage Status. In March 2004 ICOMOS recommended that UNESCO inscribe the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City as a World Heritage Site..
The area was inscribed during the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2004 under cultural criteria ii, iii and iv. Its inclusion by UNESCO was attributed to the fact that it was 'the supreme example of a commercial port at a time of Britain's greatest global influence'.
In 2012 the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the proposed construction of Liverpool Waters project. It is one of only two endangered World Heritage Sites in Europe (the second endangered site are Medieval Monuments in Kosovo).
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