Five Plinths of London (Trafalgar Square)

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	Trafalgar Square
Date:	24/06/01 (1305 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great architecture and sculpture, Fewer pigeons nowadays, Near lots of other tourist attractions

Disadvantages: Can get crowded, Loss of atmosphere due to fewer pigeons

London's Trafalgar Square is well known throughout the world, partly for the distinctive appearance of Nelson's Column, and partly for the hordes of pigeons that still congregate there despite the Mayor's best efforts. It's a popular venue for rallies and public outdoor meetings, in part because of the large open space it provides in central London, and also for historical reasons that I will go into later.

WHERE IS IT?

Trafalgar Square at the East end of Pall Mall, at the West end of the Strand, at the South end of Charing Cross Road, and at the North end of Whitehall. It's a very central location in the city, surrounded by other tourist attractions, and inevitably therefore picks up a good number of tourist visitors.

The nearest Underground station is Charing Cross, and with a bit of effort, you can choose the Undeground exit that comes up in Trafalgar Square itself. This is pretty difficult though – you'll want the exit nearest the Bakerloo line, not the exit nearest the Northern line, which you'll have to walk to before going through the ticket barriers.

Otherwise, it's just a few hundred yards walk from the main part of Charing Cross station to Trafalgar Square along the Strand.

THE SQUARE

The square was built to commemorate Admiral Nelson, and named after the Spanish cape where he won his final battle.

Trafalgar Square was built on a slope. Obviously this posed difficulties for the square's design, because the original 1820s design by John Nash, which was constructed in the 1930s, had to be remodelled in 1840 by Charles Barry. This redesign introduced the northern terrace and staircases which we see in the square today. Barry was also responsible for the introduction of the fountains in 1845, which were apparently something of an afterthought.

The square itself has changed little since then. Five plinths surround Nelson's column itself, one to
the south on a separate traffic island, two small ones on either side of the column, and two larger ones at the level of the northern terrace to the north of the column. The two fountains are a little to the north of the column.

STATUES

For many, the main attraction of Trafalgar Square is the statuary on display. Obviously, the best-known piece is Nelson's Column itself.

It took three years to erect Nelson's Column, and its height depends greatly on which guidebook you read – somewhere between 165 and 185 feet. The granite column was completed in 1842, and the fourteen stonemasons responsible for its construction held a dinner on the top of the column before the statue was installed. The 17-foot high statue of Nelson was designed by E. H. Baily (who also worked on Marble Arch and Buckingham Palace). At the top of the column are several acanthus leaves, cast from the metal of British cannons.

At the base of the column are four massive reliefs, depicting the four great victories of Admiral Nelson. The metal for these reliefs comes from armaments captured from the French. Better known than the reliefs, however, are the four enormous lions designed by Edwin Landseer, which were added 25 years after the column itself was completed. The lateness of the lions, which Landseer continually promised would emerge imminently from his studio, led to many scathing jokes from the press. When the lions were eventually added to the column, they received a very negative reaction.

The large plinth, on a traffic island to the south of Trafalgar Square, bears the huge equestrian 'Monument to Charles I', made by Le Sueur in 1633, though which presumably didn't stand on its current site until the late 17th century. The current site of this statue is quite significant, as it marks the original site of Charing Cross – the point from which all the distances from London are measured (or not, depending on which guidebo
ok you read!). In 1290, Edward I erected a cross here – the last of the twelve Eleanor Crosses marking the resting places of the body of his wife Eleanor on its journey to Westminster Abbey. Charing Cross rested on this spot until the Civil War in the mid-17th century. A replica of the cross now stands in the forecourt of Charing Cross station.

On either side of Nelson's column stand statues of two distinguished Victorian major generals – Sir Henry Havelock and Sir Charles James Napier. Havelock was a veteran of the first Indian mutiny, and served in Burma, Afghanistan and India. Napier was responsible for quelling the Chartist uprising in the North of England (which will prove significant in Trafalgar Square's history... as we will see later in this opinion), and ended his career by leading the conquest of the hill tribes of Sindh, now part of Pakistan.

Why go into so much of the history surrounding these two figures? Well, because Mayor of London Ken Livingstone would like them replaced by "more recognisable figures". An ironic statement given that Havelock once said "Soldiers, your valour will not be forgotten by a grateful country".

To the north side of the square, are two plinths. One holds a large equestrian statue of George IV, considered to be one of Sir Francis Chantrey's finest. Costing a shocking (at the time) 9,000 guineas, the statue was introduced to the square in the 1840s.

FOURTH PLINTH

The final plinth (in the Northwestern corner of the square) was, for a very long period, left unoccupied. However, between 1999 and 2001, it exhibited a series of contemporary British sculpture thanks to the involvement of Sculpture at Goodwood. The first of these pieces, 'Ecce Homo' by Mark Wallinger, consisted of a simple life-size statue of Christ, which stood in sharp contrast to the artificially exaggerated proportions of the other statues in the square.

The
second sculpture, Bill Woodrow's 'Regardless of History' stood on the plinth for longer than originally anticipated due to its popularity. The work consists of a large head, with a book resting on top, kept in place by the massive root system of a tree that has grown on top of the sculpture, and whose roots extend down around the plinth.

The third sculpture, Rachel Whiteread's 'Untitled (Empty Plinth)' continues Whiteread's preoccupation with encouraging public awareness of space. In her sculpture, an inverted likeness of the plinth itself, made from water-clear resin, stands on top of the stone plinth.

SURROUNDING BUILDINGS

Around the square itself are several impressive buildings. The most imposing building is unquestionably the National Gallery on the North side of the square, designed by Wilkins. To the West side of the National Gallery is the Sainsbury Wing, which holds the Gallery's collection of Medieval art. The first design for the Wing (which, thankfully, was not approved) was famously described by Prince Charles as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".

To the North-east of the square can be found St. Martin-in-the-Fields church, one of the most architecturally significant churches in the city. It was designed by James Gibbs, completed in 1726, and went on to become the model for colonial churches in the United States. If you're at a loose end in the city for something to do of an evening, see if you can get to one of the candlelit concerts at St Martins.

To the East side of the square is South Africa House, which features African animals on the building's stone arches. Opposite that, on the West side of the square is Canada House, designed by Sir Robert Smirke, who also designed the British Museum. Canada House often hosts exhibitions which are open to the public, and these are usually worth a visit so that you can admire the
original classical interior.

To the South-west of the square is Admiralty Arch, beyond which you can see down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. The arch itself serves well to separate the sedate pace of the Mall from the hurried feel of Trafalgar Square, consisting of a triple arch. Traffic passes through the outer arches, and the central arch is only opened for royal processions.

To the South of Trafalgar Square, you can look down Whitehall, towards Parliament.

THE SQUARE IN USE

Back in 1848, the Chartists assembled in Trafalgar Square, and since then it has been a favourite meeting place for demonstrators and marchers, as it provides such a large open area within which to congregate. Of late, it seems that efforts have been made to discourage public demonstrations in the square, as at one time you could scarcely walk through the square without encountering a small demonstration. Nonetheless, major demonstrations still regularly take place in the square.

Even in George Orwell's '1984', the renamed Victory Square (the site of Trafalgar Square) had a column replaced Nelson with a massive statue of Big Brother, and was the site of public rallies where the proles would come to hurl abuse at prisoners of war.

In addition to protests, the square is often used as a venue for major events. Recently, for example, the square played host to a South African freedom day concert, with music from REM, and every year, the square is the centre of the Hindu Rath Yatra festival in London.

THE PIGEON WAR

In 2001, Mayor of London Ken Livingstone refused to renew the licence of the last bird feeder in Trafalgar Square, in his efforts to clear the square of the hordes of pigeons with which it has become synonymous throughout the world. It's not been a particularly popular decision, particularly with animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) who argue that the pigeons
will starve. Livingstone argues that the pigeons provide something of a health hazard in such a major tourist attraction.

At the time of writing, there are still quite a few pigeons in Leicester Square, but numbers are vastly down on those before sales of bird food were prevented in the square.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR

Every December, the people of Norway send an enormous Christmas tree to Britain, in thanks for British involvement in the liberation of their country during the Second World War. After dark, the tree is regularly visited by groups of carollers at this time of year.

Every New Year, thousands of tourists descend upon Trafalgar Square, which is absurd really, because there aren't actually any clocks within sight of the square. Usually, a dot-matrix display is installed at the base of Nelson's Column, so that they can have some cue from which to count down the final seconds of the year. On a normal day, you could hear Big Ben in Trafalgar Square, but not when there are thousands of revellers there!

CONCLUSIONS

Trafalgar Square is one of London's major tourist attractions, and being just a square, it's completely free for tourists to visit. While something of the atmosphere of the place has been lost with the abolition of the square's pigeon food vendors, it remains an impressive place, with some superb architecture on display. Also, since the square is surrounded by so many tourist attractions, a visitor to London is bound to walk through it at some point.

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