The Nelson Monument, tall on a granite base,Pocock,T., Horatio Nelson (London, Brockhampton) 1987 stands on Portsdown Hill about north of Portsmouth Harbour on the south coast of England. It was the eventual outcome of a movement started during Horatio Nelson's lifetime to "perpetuate the glorious victories of the British Navy".Howarth, D. and S. Howarth, Nelson: The Immortal Memory (Uxbridge: Corgi) 2004 By 1799 Nelson's prize agent Alexander Davison was able to use the Nelson name to spearhead a campaignThe Alexander Davison Collection, Sotheby's, October 21, 2002 Letter to Nelson to inform him of a Committee formed by The Duke of Clarence, The Prime Minister and others to examine proposals for a national monument. to honour "Britain's naval glory and pre-eminence". It was, however, Nelson's death at Trafalgar, 21 October 1805, that galvanized the campaign.Padfield, P., Nelson’s War (Ware: Wordsworth) 1976
A design for the monument by John Thomas Groves of the Board of Works was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1807,Colvin, Howard, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, (Yale University Press) 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "John Thomas Groves". The monument is modelled on the Aksum Stele, Ethiopia: Groves was inspired by the findings in Aksum of Henry Salt who visited Ethiopia in 1805.
However, letters were written to The Times asking where the money Davison had raised had gone,The matter was eventually brought before Parliament (The Times, Wednesday, April 26, 1809; pg. 2; Issue 7656; col B "Houses Of Commons"; Tuesday, April 25. "Abuse Of Patronage"). but the £4050 he raised was never recovered.Downer, M., Nelson's Purse: The mystery of Lord Nelson's Lost Treasures (Uxbridge, Corgi) 2004 The final (and successful) attempt was paid for by the Navy itself.Naval subscriptions This time the fund's driving force, Captain Thomas Fremantle, adopted a more altruistic approach,Smith, J., The Nelson Monument Portsdown Hill: a seamark re-discovered (Portsmouth, The Nelson Society) 2007 and the monument commenced construction on 4 July 1807Smith, J., The story of Nelson's Portsmouth (Tiverton,:Halsgrove) 2005 with the final checks to the inscription made just over a year later. The monument was rebuilt in 1899, but the bust is the original. The monument still serves as a navigation mark, used in compass corrections.
Although very near the town of Fareham, the monument falls within the boundary of Winchester City Council. The adjacent Fort Nelson, Portsmouth, completed in 1871 as another Napoleon threatened England's south coast, is so named because of its proximity to the monument.
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