Wellington Statue Aldershot
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Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) the Green Park Arch was moved in 1882-3 a short distance to its present location on Hyde Park Corner. The statue of the Duke which had adorned the arch was removed to Aldershot in 1884 after being taken down in 1882 and left in Green Park while its future location was debated. Eventually Parliament agreed it should be moved to Aldershot and into the care of the Army. The removal of the statue from the Triumphal Arch was a relief to the many critics who considered the statue out of proportion and inappropropriate to such a location.
The Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) selected Round Hill close by the Royal Garrison Church as the site for the statue. Moving Mathew Wyatt's creation from London was no mean feat. The statue weighs 40 tons and is some 30 feet in height, however it was successfully and ceremoniously handed to the British Army in August 1885 in front of a large crowd of onlookers.
The 1st Duke of Wellington is shown on Copenhagen his charger. Fittingly much of the bronze in the statue is derived from French cannon captured at Waterloo and remelted in Wyatts foundary. Wellington himself sat for the sculptor. Copenhagen however had died and a substitute horse was used as a model and this offended many at the time who saw a poor likeness of Copenhagen in the statue.
