Statues - Hither & Thither |
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Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
Isle of Anglesey - Ynys Môn Wales Ffordd Caergebi |
Marquess of Anglesey's Column - Colofn Ardalydd MônField Marshal Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, KG, GCB, GCH, PCLondon 1768 - 29 April 1854 British military leader and politician, remembered for leading the charge of the heavy cavalry against d'Erlon's column during the Battle of Waterloo (Wikipedia) |
Matthew Noble
1860 |
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The inhabitants of the counties of Anglesey and Caernarvon Have erected this Column in grateful commemoration of the distinguished military achievements of their countryman Henry William Marquess of Anglesey The leader of the British Cavalry in spain Throughout the arduous campaign of 1807 and the second in Command of the Armies Confederated against France at The Memorable Battle of Waterloo on the 18th of June 1815 |
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Y Golofn hon A gyfodwyd gan drigolion Mon ac arfon O barch w Cyd wladwr enwog Henry William Ardalydd Mon Ac er coffadwrlaeth Am ei wroldeb ai orchestion ..n en ymladd yn Hispaen Ac yn enwedig Pan dywysodd y Farch fyddin gyfunol Ar Faes Waterloo 18 Mehefin 1815 |
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Invicto et fortissimo Duci Henrico Guglielmo Marchioni de Anglesey Populari suo Ob plurima Tam in bello Hispanico Quam in ipso Waterlooensi prælio Egregie Gesta Incolæ hujusce Insulæ Et vicinæ Arvoniensis Ore Grati et Triumphantes Columnum hanc Erexerunt A.D. 1816 |
Placing the statue on top of the 120 ft. high monument was an extraordinary achiement in 1860. A reporter of The Times wrote about it (copied by several other newspapers):
Extraordinary Engineering FeatFew who have passed through the Tubular Brldge across the Menai Straits will have failed to notice a well-proportioned column of grey marble, of the fluted Doric order, which almost overhangs the railway at the entrance of the tube on the Anglesey side of the straits.
This column was erected in 1816 by public subscription to commemorate the military achievements of the gallant soldier who commanded, the cavalry and who was second in command of the British army at the battle of Waterloo.
The column itself, on account of its correct proportions as well as its admirable site, perched as it is on an elevated plateau of rock visible for many miles in every direction, has justly been considered one of the sights of the far-famed Straits of Menai; it only wanted a statue of the hero to complete it.
The inhabitants of Anglesey and its neighbourhood determined, when their favourite and honoured Arglwydd or Lord of Mona was taken from them, to supply this want; and accordingly all, from the owners of broad acres to the labourers of the soil, throw in their mite, and speedily raised a sum of money which enabled them to give the commission to the eminent sculptor Matthew Noble, and it must be admitted that they have been justified in their selection, for the statue, which is of bronze, 12ft. 4in. high, in the full costume of the Hussar of the beginning of the century, is not only a striking likeness, both in face, figure, and mien, of the noble Marquis, but is likewise, as a work of art, one of the happiest efforts of that master.
The rock on which the column stands presents but an insufficlent space for scaffolding, and great difficulties arose in consequence,'which have been overcome by a bold and simple engineering manoeuvre, for which the author deserves the highest credit, and the public will be the more interested in the originator of this novel method of avoiding the expense and inconvenience of the use of scaffolding from the circumstance of his untimely end brought about by the anxiety attendant on the critical operation he undertook, and of which he lived not to see the success.
Mr. J. Haslam, a youth about 23 years of age, a native of Anglesey, conceived the design, which we will now describe, and which was most successfully executed on Saturday last [24 November 1860]. Two balks of timber, about 70 feet long were placed vertically at the foot of the column, and formed a sort of double mast, on which were placed what sailors term cap and crosstrees, to admit of a topmast which was hoisted up and secured between the two lower masts the whole attaning a height of 120 feet, giving a clear 20 feet above the column itself. On the capital of the column a shorter mast was erected, and between these two masts a large pair of traverse beams was laid across, on which a small travelling truck was placed; the whole were firmly bolted together and secured with several pairs of shrouds. The structure looked of so slender a nature that when; the great mass, weighing 2½ tons; which was about to be lifted in mid-air to an elevation of 120 feet, was seen, every one felt considerable misgivings. The hoisting apparatus consisted of a large hawser carefully attached to the statue, and leading through rollers on the travelling truck along the traverse beams, and down on the opposite side of the column, and attached to a heavy three-fold tackle, forming the principal purchase. Besides this, two other tackles, likewise attached to the traveller on the summit, and thence to the statue, were used as supports to the main hoisting apparatus.
The statue commenced to move at exactly eleven o'clock, and rose majestically in the course of half an hour to the height of about 70 feet, when the main tackle suddenly twisted itself up so completly as to appear like a single rope. This was an awk-ward moment, and appeared to threaten a failure, but the sailors speedily climbed up the tackle and applied a lever to the upper block, and so untwisted the tackle, and the hoisting was resumed. The half hour occupied in this matter was one of no ordinary anxiety, for the statue began to vibrate rather unpleasantly. At one o'clock it reached the summit, and there remained only the operaton of sliding it along the beams until it stood over its final resting place. For this purpose it was necessary to rack the tackles, in order to liberate the statue from them during its lateral movement. The operation of rackling caused a delay of about half an hour, when the ponderous weight was slid by means of the main purchase, checked by two tackles at the opposite end of the truck, until it was poised over the column: the preventer tackles were then unracked, and it was lowered into its place at half past one, amid the cheers of the bystanders.
It is impossible to close this account of so novel and bold an experiment without paying a tribute of respect to the memory of the engineer, and expressing our regret that so promising a youth should have been snatched away from a career in which he gave promise of distinguishing himself. Times
According to PMSA, "a copper engraving on the statue's pedestal records the engineering work involved which was planned by a local man, Mr. Haslam, of Carreg Bran, Anglesey." This engraving was however not present anymore.
N.B. The 'official' name of this village is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - a c. 1860 attempt to develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre. It is signposted however as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.
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