# Duke of York Column

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Not to be confused with [York Column](/source/York_Column).

The **Duke of York Column** is a [monument](/source/Monument) in London, England, to [Prince Frederick, Duke of York](/source/Prince_Frederick,_Duke_of_York_and_Albany), the second son of King [George III](/source/George_III). The designer was [Benjamin Dean Wyatt](/source/Benjamin_Dean_Wyatt). It is sited where a purposefully wide endpoint of [Regent Street](/source/Regent_Street), known as [Waterloo Place](/source/Waterloo_Place) and Gardens, meets [The Mall](/source/The_Mall_(London)), between the two terraces of [Carlton House Terrace](/source/Carlton_House_Terrace) and their tree-lined squares. The three very wide flights of steps down to The Mall adjoining are known as the **Duke of York Steps**. The column was completed in December 1832, and the statue of the Duke of York, by Sir [Richard Westmacott](/source/Richard_Westmacott), was raised on 10 April 1834.[1]

## History

[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany](/source/Prince_Frederick,_Duke_of_York_and_Albany), was the [commander-in-chief](/source/Commander-in-Chief_of_the_Forces) of the [British Army](/source/British_Army) during the [French Revolutionary Wars](/source/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](/source/Nursery_rhyme) "[The Grand Old Duke of York](/source/The_Grand_Old_Duke_of_York)". When he died in 1827, the entire British Army, by general consensus following a proposal of the senior officers, forwent one day's wages to pay for a monument to the Duke.

When the sum of subscriptions for a monument to the Duke reached £21,000 (), the committee overseeing the project asked a number of architects to submit proposals, and in December 1830 they chose a design by [Benjamin Dean Wyatt](/source/Benjamin_Dean_Wyatt). The mason Nowell of Pimlico was contracted to build the column for a sum of £15,760. Excavations for the concrete foundations began on 27 April 1831. The ground was excavated to a layer of natural soil, around below street level. A layer of [York stone](/source/York_stone) slabs at a depth of around was used to consolidate the concrete, and another was placed at the top of the foundations, as a base for the masonry. The foundations were completed on 25 June 1831, and construction of the stonework began three weeks later.[2]

On 7 May 1850, Henri Joseph Stephan, a horn player in [Benjamin Lumley](/source/Benjamin_Lumley)'s orchestra at [Her Majesty's Theatre](/source/Her_Majesty's_Theatre), committed suicide by falling from the public gallery at the top of the column.[3]

## Description

The column is of the [Tuscan order](/source/Tuscan_order). It is built of [granite](/source/Granite) from [Aberdeenshire](/source/Aberdeenshire); a light grey variety was used for the pedestal, a bluer grey type for the base of the shaft,[2] and 'red' Peterhead granite (pink/grey) for the shaft of the column. There is an iron railing around the [abacus](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abacus) of the capital. Above the column a circular plinth, then a bronze statue of the Duke dressed in the robes of the [Knights of the Garter](/source/Knights_of_the_Garter_(1700-1899)), by Sir [Richard Westmacott](/source/Richard_Westmacott).[4][5] The statue is slightly more than twice life-size, at tall[6] and weighs 16,840 pounds (7,640 kg). It was raised into position on 8 April 1834.[4]

The total height of the monument is .[6] The statue faces south-southeast; from its base, there are views of [The Mall](/source/The_Mall_(London)) and [St. James's Park](/source/St._James's_Park).[7] The great height of the column caused contemporary wits to joke that the Duke was trying to escape his creditors, for the Duke died £2 million in debt.[7][clarification needed]

Within the column a spiral staircase of 168 steps, lit by narrow apertures,[4] to the viewing platform. Given the small, fragile platform and the previous high demand for access, this column has been closed to the public for many decades.[7]

The column is set at the top of a monumental flight of steps forming a break in [Carlton House Terrace](/source/Carlton_House_Terrace), The ensemble was designed by architect [John Nash](/source/John_Nash_(architect)) as an emphatic southern termination of his *[Via Triumphalis](/source/Via_Triumphalis)* from [Regent's Park](/source/Regent's_Park) to Westminster, envisaged and mostly realised 1815–1820. The Column, Steps and Terrace occupy the site of the [Prince Regent](/source/Prince_Regent)'s spectacular but short-lived [Carlton House](/source/Carlton_House). The houses in the Terrace were popular with the gentry and wealthy, later joined by politicians such as [William Ewart Gladstone](/source/William_Ewart_Gladstone). Both Column and Terrace are [Grade I-listed](/source/Listed_building), the houses in the terrace being described as 'palatial' by [Historic England](/source/Historic_England).[8]

## References

1. Ward-Jackson, Philip (2011), "Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1", Vol. 14, Public Sculpture of Britain, Liverpool: [Liverpool University Press](/source/Liverpool_University_Press), p. 385

1. Timbs, John (1835). [*Arcana of Science and Art*](https://books.google.com/books?id=baDkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA29). London: John Limbird. pp. 29–31.

1. ["The Suicide from the Duke of York's Column"](https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS135037616/TTDA?u=wes_ttda&sid=TTDA&xid=10db02ed). *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*. No. 20490. 16 May 1850. p. 8. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

1. Timbs, John (1858). [*Curiosities of London*](https://books.google.com/books?id=1vw9AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA227). London. p. 284.

1. Weinreb, Ben & Hibbert, Christopher (1993). *The London Encyclopaedia*. London: PaperMac. p. 247. ISBN 0333576888. [OCLC 28963301](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28963301)

1. G. H. Gater & F. R. Hiorns (eds.) (1940). ["Carlton House Terrace and Carlton Gardens"](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68416). *Survey of London: volume 20: St Martin-in-the-Fields, pt III: Trafalgar Square & Neighbourhood*. London: London County Council. pp. 77–87. Retrieved 29 December 2011. – via British History Online.

1. ["Victorian London – Buildings, Monuments and Museums – Duke of York's column"](http://www.victorianlondon.org/buildings/dukeofyork.htm). Victorian London.

## Bibliography

- "[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany](https://books.google.com/books?id=FA8FAAAAQAAJ)", *The Mechanic's Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal and Gazette*, Vol. 574, 9 August 1834, pp. 306–311 – a contemporary report on the building of the monument.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Duke of York Column](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_York_Column) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_York_Column?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.