I wasn’t sure how I’d cope with climbing 115 steps up one of North Wales’ finest monuments. But I decided to give it a go.
Like thousands of motorists, I’d driven past The Marquess of Anglesey’s Column in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey numerous times and hadn’t even known you could go inside it.
It had in fact been closed for a decade before a renovation saw it reopen to the public last spring.
I paid the £7.50 admission at the nearby visitor centre, walked up to the column (past blueschist rock) went through a doorway and prepared for the ascent.
A guide had told me a joiner who had recently replaced the old steps with modern, wooden ones had lost two stones in his Herculean feat. There is also a £12,000 lightning conductor cable winding its way to the top, where the spiral staircase narrows.
The main car park for visitors to The Marquess of Anglesey’s Column in Llanfairwll
(Image: David Powell)
None of these facts was particularly reassuring but in I went. I had to pause for a moment to catch my breath when I got to the 70th.
The stairwell is fairly well-lit and a rope helps you keep your balance but you still need to be reasonably fit.
I climbed the remaining 45 steps before stepping out into the open air and onto a fenced off balcony. The winding Menai Strait and the snow-capped splendour of Eryri stretched out in front of me.
It was a magnificent view and the climb had been worth every penny. Afterwards I bought a bacon butty and orange juice from the excellent cafe-cum-visitor centre.
The Marquess of Anglesey’s Column visitor centre and cafe in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey
(Image: David Powell)
Fascinating information boards adorn the walls which you can read as you munch. Famously on being wounded, Henry, who was still an Earl, is said to have remarked to Wellington: “By God, Sir, I’ve lost my leg!” with the Duke replying “By God, Sir, so you have!”
The leg had to be amputated without anaesthetic, with the Earl reputedly complaining the saw wasn’t sharp enough. The limb was buried and became an unlikely tourist attraction.
The only caveat to a visit to his monument is that the main car park lies about 100 metres away. You then have to walk over steepish, uneven terrain and go up 20 or so steps to reach the foot of the column. So it’s inaccessible for prams and wheelchairs.
However, there is also a separate car park for Blue Badge holders and drop offs in front of the visitor centre/cafe. So simply wait there for more nimble relatives to return or just enjoy coffee and scone there.
History of the column
After the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium in 1815 in which the Duke of Wellington – aided by Henry Paget – defeated Napoleon, the people of Anglesey wanted to expresss the “high admiration” they felt towards one of their own, Henry The Marquess of Anglesey.
They decided to build a column in view of his mansion Plas Newydd where he occasionally resided. The column’s first stone was laid on June 18, 1816 – on the first anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. Exactly one year later the last stone was put in place.
Several ships’ masts were used at the centre of the monument, with the column built from grey marble, quarried from Moelfre near Red Wharf Bay, around the masts. (They wouldn’t have fitted through the doorway otherwise)
I was surprised to learn the actual statue of Henry we all see was not added until years later. The Marquess died in 1854, aged 86.
In 1859 – some 43 years after the column was built – friends decided a permanent memorial of The Marquess was also needed. They commissioned a sculptor Mathew Noble to design a statue in bronze.
He did so with “The Marquess” shown wearing his uniform as Colonel of the 7th Hussars, with the Order of the Bath and the Waterloo Medal.
A local carpenter’s team built scaffolding on one side. Sailors then heaved the statue up into place in a remarkable 80 minutes and it was fitted securely for generations to see.