MARQUESS OF ANGLESEY COLUMN Conservation Plan Chambers Conservation Ltd, March 2020 – Issue 1 (draft) Prologue This report, commissioned by the Anglesey Column Trust, has been written by Jennifer Chambers BA (Hons) BArch RIBA SCA IHBC of Chambers Conservation Ltd. The purpose of this report is to assess the history, character and significance of the building and its components to help guide future decision making and change. Chambers Conservation Ltd [email protected] 07484 133270 [email protected] 07919 300428 Registered address: 88 Tattenhall Road, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9QJ www.chambersconservation.com 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Chambers Conservation Ltd has been appointed to write this Plan to help inform project to repair and once again provide visitor access to the column. 1.1.1 Well-known architect Thomas Harrison was commissioned in 1816 to design a monument for the people of Anglesey and Caernarfon to commemorate the Marquess of Anglesey. 1.2 The column and surrounding site are owned by the Anglesey Column Trust. The Trust is a group of local volunteers, chaired by the current Marquess of Anglesey, who are passionate about restoring the Column site to its full glory so that future generations can enjoy what this wonderful landmark has to offer. 2.0 Context 2.1 Description of the Heritage Assets: Column 2.1.1 The column is a grade II* listed structure. 2.1.2 The Doric column is 34.2m high from base to the top of the statue. The base consists of three levels of large squared steps topped with a single-storey element which has a doorway on the west facing side and engraved memorials (in English, Welsh and Latin) on the remaining sides. 2.1.3 The shaft is a stop-fluted cylinder, made up of large ashlar blocks. The top approximately two-thirds has concave fluting, the bottom third, simply faceted. There are regular slot windows providing glazing (and probably originally ventilation) to the stairway. 2.1.4 At the head there is a small projecting capital, supporting a simple square platform which comprises two layers of thick stone slabs. A railing has been fixed to the edge of this platform. 2.1.5 On the platform there is a single-storey cylindrical element that acts as a plinth to the later statue. The plinth as a domed top and a doorway leading from the top of the stair. Above the door is a plaque. The Marquess of Anglesey Column – Conservation Plan - March 2020 – Issue 1 (draft) 3 2.1.6 The statue is constructed of bronze and stands 3m tall. It depicts the Marquess of Anglesey, Henry William Paget of Plas Newydd in his military regalia. The statue faces approximately south-east, towards the Britannia Bridge. 2.1.7 The exterior is constructed from grey marble quarried at Moelfre. 2.1.8 Internally, there are 115 timber steps supported by a long timber newel at the centre. Column Cottage 2.1.9 The cottage is a grade II listed building. 2.1.10 The cottage is situated at a lower level, about 300m to the north of the column. It is a simple, single storey stone building with later additions. It is thought that it was built as a caretaker’s cottage but more recently served as a ticket office for the visitor attraction with toilets around the back. Front elevation of the cottage, now sadly boarded up 2.2 Surroundings 2.2.1 The top of the column is understood to give spectacular views over North West Wales, including Snowdonia, Anglesey and the Llŷn Peninsula. 2.2.2 The column is situated just over 100m above the Menai Strait. The Britannia Bridge rail and road crossing is less than a kilometre away and the Menai Suspension Bridge is just a little further along the Strait. 2.2.3 It is within the largely residential area of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll but close to more open areas, in particular that of the Plas Newydd estate. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll acts as a gateway to Anglesey and is a tourist attraction in its own right. 2.2.4 An area wrapping around the column (and two other separate areas) have been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest known as Anglesey Blueschist SSSI. Main driveway access The Marquess of Anglesey Column – Conservation Plan - March 2020 – Issue 1 (draft) 4 3.0 History Construction of the Column 3.1.1 Following the Napoleonic wars of 1803–1815, there was a nationwide desire to honour those who had served their country. North-east Wales was no exception and their local hero was the Marquess of Anglesey (William Henry Paget) who had an estate nearby at Plas Newydd. Paget had been the Earl of Uxbridge prior to being honoured and given the tiles ‘Marquess of Anglesey’ in 1815. The local community wished to commemorate his roles in the Peninsular War and as commander of the Allied cavalry in the Netherlands at the battle of Waterloo, where he lost a leg. 3.1.2 Initially there had been two separate funds for the memorial project – in August 1815 a meeting had been held in Caernarfon which resolved to start a fund to erect a monument ‘as a testimony of their sense of the gallant conduct of the noble Marquess’. A second fund had been started by the ‘Gentlemen, Clergy and Freeholders of Anglesey’. It was only when a meeting was held in September 1815 in Beaumaris that the two groups united in their cause (reported later in the North Wales Gazette of 5th of October 1815): ‘A subscription commenced, pursuant to Resolutions entered into, at a General Meeting of the county of Anglesey, held at the Grand Jury Room, Beaumaris, on Tuesday the 26th of September, 1815, for the purpose of enabling this county further to testify its high admiration of the heroic conduct of the gallant Marquis of Anglesey, in the memorable battle of Waterloo; and also to afford an opportunity to the other counties of North Wales , of uniting to shew their sense of the brilliant achievement of their distinguished countryman, by erecting an Obelisk, or other Trophy, to commemorate his fame’. 3.1.3 Just a month later the position of the memorial was apparently fixed as being near the ‘Bangor-ferry’ which provided a vital transport link between the George Hotel, Bangor 1913 OS plan and Porthaethwy, Anglesey – one of the ancient ferry routes across the Straits. 3.1.4 By 1816, the well-known north-west architect Thomas Harrison had been appointed for the project. It was started in June 1816 and completed in September 2017. The column was built of ‘mona marble’ a limestone quarried in Moelfre (before being shipped to the shore, near the site) and the mason listed as Mr Milnes of Oswestry. It is understood that there is no mortar was used in the stonework joints - it is likely the The Marquess of Anglesey Column – Conservation Plan - March 2020 – Issue 1 (draft) 5 brass clamps were used, as they were known to have been incorporated into the very similar Lord Hill’s column in Shrewsbury just a year earlier. It should be noted that the initial construction did not include the statue – the cylindrical plinth at the top was left bare. 3.1.5 The 1844 tithe map shows no detail for the site, but the associated apportionment lists it as being a ‘parc y twr’’ (park and tower), it being occupied by Pierce Jones and owner by ‘The Most Noble, the Marquis of Anglesey’. Installation of the Statue and Construction the Cottage 3.1.6 In editions of the North Wales Chronicle of August and 4th September 1858, an advertisement was placed in the on behalf of ‘The Marquess of Anglesey’s Column’ asking for a contractor to erect a circular wooden staircase inside the column – it is Etching of the column from 1823, prior to the erection of the statue presumed that no stairs had been in place prior to that time. It is almost certain that and railings the stairs were an agreed prerequisite to the installation of a statue to the top of the column, following the death of the Marquess in 1854. Similarly, there were no railings initially, so it is likely that they were installed at this time – it is unclear from photographic evidence as to whether the upper doorway was in place or not in the initial construction. 3.1.7 The first mentions of a statue appear in the North Wales Chronicle in January 1859: ‘An eminent London artist (Mr. Noble) has undertaken the work, and to place it in its position for the sum of £1,000, of which the family have contributed £600 – a further fund-raising campaign was commenced’. 3.1.8 The statue, cast in bronze by ‘Messrs. Robinson and Cottam’, was hoisted into place on 24th of November 1860 – the hoist was an elaborate structure designed by J.S. Haslam, who was associated with the Plas Newydd estate. The installation method was described in detail and illustrated within the Illustrated London News 15th December 1860. The work was carried out by Welsh carpenters and Anglesey ‘seamen’. The spectacle was reportedly witnessed by around a thousand people, including Haslam and sculptor Matthew Noble. 3.1.9 Very little is known about the cottage – it does not appear on any nineteenth century photos or illustrations, although this may be more to do with a topography of the land and the artistic eye of the illustrator. By its appearance, it is likely to date from around the mid nineteenth century – this would logically tie it to the time of the installation of the statue – with the stair and railway having been installed, there would have probably The Marquess of Anglesey Column – Conservation Plan - March 2020 – Issue 1 (draft) 6 been a need for more management of the site and it may have been that point where a fee was charged for people to go to the viewing platform.