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This elegant column which stands 144 foot high was erected in 1819 at a cost of £10,000. This was 24 years before the better known column of the same name in London's Trafalgar Square.
Its original purpose was to celebrate Nelson's victory at the battle of The Nile in 1798, when we gave the French a 'bit of a bashing', but when Nelson died seven years later, this then became a memorial to him instead.
The top figure is of Britannia, evident by the trident that she can be seen holding, with the cost for her construction coming to £892. She is posed facing towards the North West, where 50 miles away as the crow flies, you will find Nelson's birthplace of Burnham Thorpe.

Britannia is supported by various female figures underneath. These caryatids, to give their correct name, along with Britannia herself were originally made from the artificial Coade stone. For more information on Coade Stone with examples of its use in churchyard memorials take a look at Peter Fairweather's site.

Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :-
          Peter Fairweather.

Some restoration work was carried out in 1896, when the caryatids were replaced with concrete replicas. In 1975 the column became the responsibility of Norfolk County Council, and during the restoration they carried out, both Britannia and the caryatids were replaced with fibre glass models filled with concrete. The column itself is constructed from Quartz Sandstone.

The column, which was designed by William Wilkins, is hollow and at one time it was possible to climb 217 steps to the top. This of course, as can be expected, is no longer possible, in this instance it was decided it was a health hazard in 1996.
The pleasure which is denied us today, must have no doubt been popular when the column was erected, as a small cottage was built nearby for a man called the 'Keeper of the Pillar'. The first person to hold this job was a Mr James Sharman, who was forcibly enrolled ['press ganged'] into the navy in 1803 when he was just fourteen. He later, by chance, served on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, Sharman later claiming he also helped carry the wounded Nelson below. Now bearing in mind that Sharman's job would have entailed conversation with the many visitors that came to see a memorial to Britain's greatest hero of the time, some cynical people may think this admission by him to be an amazing coincidence.

     Photo Submitted by, and Copyright of :- Peter Fairweather.

Charles Dickens
One fact about Sharman, which is documented, is that he took a major part in the rescue from the beach near his house, of survivors from a shipwreck in 1827. Charles Dickens later heard of this, and visited Sharman. It was in 1850 when Dickens published "David Copperfield" and in the part of the book based in Yorkshire, the character 'Ham Peggoty' is based on Sharman.

The Grade 1 listed monument is shortly to be the subject of a £1,000,000 restoration ,hopefully, as in 2005 Yarmouth is due to be celebrating the bi-centenary of The Battle of Trafalgar.

Co-Ords: TG 529055 /  

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