Tuesday, 26 May 2009

The Collingwood Monument

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The Collingwood Monument at Tynemouth was completed in 1845 and commemorates the life and achievements of Admiral Lord Collingwood.

Cuthbert Collingwood ( 26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) played a crucial part in the battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. Aboard his flagship the Royal Sovereign he led the British fleet through the French line and fired the first shot of the battle. When Admiral Nelson was fatally wounded Collingwood took over command of the British fleet and secured the victory. Had the Royal Navy lost the battle, the French Emperor Napoleon would almost certainly have invaded England with over 100,00 troops who had been amassed across the Channel in Boulogne.

Born and bred near Newcastle's quayside, Collingwood was educated at the city's Royal Grammar School before joining the Navy in 1761 at the age of 12. He died at sea off Minorca on board the Ville de Paris on 7 March 1810; he was later buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

The statue in this photograph was sculpted by John Graham Lough and the base was designed by John Dobson. The four cannon on the monument came from his flagship the Royal Sovereign and were added to the monument in 1849, four years after its completion.
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5 comments:

  1. Beautiful monument, great shot.

    Cheers
    Guy
    Regina In Pictures

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  2. Fine photograph. And your commentary is a reminder of the futility of wars of national pride and conquest!

    I don't know, but wonder if monuments such as this create nationalistic fervor or help people remember their common humanity?

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  3. This is a powerful statement to be made by a statue, Charles. It reminds me of some of those statues in Eastern Russian and places like Latvia.

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  4. Jacob; this statue represents local pride in a local hero rather than nationalistic fervour. Collingwood is little known by most people in the UK, unlike Nelson who also happened to be his great friend.

    Julie, it is indeed a large statue, from which there are great views over the river Tyne

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