Admiral Hood Monument

Last updated

Admiral Hood Monument
Hoodmonument.jpg
Somerset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Somerset
General information
Architectural style Tuscan column
Town or city Compton Dundon
Country England
Coordinates 51°06′05″N2°43′17″W / 51.101356°N 2.721306°W / 51.101356; -2.721306
Completed1831 [1]
Technical details
Size110 feet (33.5 m) high
Design and construction
Architect(s) Henry Goodridge

The Admiral Hood Monument is a memorial column to Sir Samuel Hood on a hill near Butleigh in the parish of Compton Dundon, Somerset, England. It was completed in 1831 to a design by Henry Goodridge.

Description

Monument crown Hoodmonumentcrown.jpg
Monument crown

The monument is a 110 feet (33.5 m) Tuscan column on a cuboid ashlar base set on two tall steps, the lower supporting a wrought iron railing enclosure. [2] The proportions of the monument were based on those of Trajan's column in Rome. [3] There was originally a doorway in the base, but this was sealed in 1990. [2] The monument culminates in a band of laurel wreaths beneath a naval crown, composed of the sculpted sterns of four galleons interspersed with four mainsails. [4] It was carved by Gahagan of Bath. [3]

The monument was paid for by public subscription and designed by the architect Henry Goodridge. [1] [5] It was originally linked to the Hood family home at Butleigh by a mile long avenue of cedar trees. [6] The inscription was composed by Sir James Mackintosh and reads as follows:




On the north face:

IN MEMORY OF
SIR SAMUEL HOOD
BARONET
KNIGHT OF THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH
AND NOMINATED GRAND CROSS THEREOF
KNIGHT OF St FERDINAND AND OF MERIT
KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE SWORD
VICE ADMIRAL OF THE WHITE
AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF HIS MAJESTY'S FLEET
IN THE EAST INDIES

On the west face:

AN OFFICER OF THE HIGHEST DISTINCTION
AMONGST THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN
WHO RENDERED THEIR OWN AGE
THE BRIGHTEST PERIOD
IN THE NAVAL HISTORY
OF THEIR COUNTRY

On the south face:

THIS MONUMENT IS DEDICATED
TO THEIR LATE COMMANDER
BY THE ATTACHMWNT AND REVERENCE
OF BRITISH OFFICERS
OF WHOM MANY WERE HIS ADMIRING FOLLOWERS
IN THOSE AWFUL SCENES OF WAR
IN WHICH WHILE THEY CALL FORTH
THE GRANDEST QUALITIES OF HUMAN NATURE
IN HIM LIKEWISE GAVE OCCASION
FOR THE EXERCISE OF ITS MOST AMIABLE VIRTUES
HE DIED AT MADRAS DECEMBER 24th 1814 [3]

It was designated as a grade II* listed building in 1958. [7]

The Hood monument viewed from 1 mile to the South Hood monument viewed from SSW.jpg
The Hood monument viewed from 1 mile to the South

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood</span> British admiral (1724–1816)

Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of Antelope, he drove a French ship ashore in Audierne Bay, and captured two privateers in 1757 during the Seven Years' War. He held senior command as Commander-in-Chief, North American Station and then as Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station, leading the British fleet to victory at Battle of the Mona Passage in April 1782 during the American Revolutionary War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, then First Naval Lord and, after briefly returning to the Portsmouth command, became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet during the French Revolutionary Wars. His younger brother was Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726–1814), and his first cousin once-removed was Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet (1762–1814).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Somerville</span> Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1882-1949)

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign. He also served in the Second World War as commander of the newly formed Force H: after the French armistice with Germany, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H the task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria. After he had destroyed the French Battle fleet, Somerville played an important role in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport</span> Royal Navy officer

Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, KB, of Cricket St Thomas, Somerset, was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet</span> Royal Navy admiral (1762–1814)

Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet,, of 37 Lower Wimpole Street, London, was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served as a Member of Parliament for Westminster in 1806.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon</span>

Admiral Arthur William Acland Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon, was an officer of the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he took part in the capture of Acre during the Oriental Crisis in 1840 and went ashore with the naval brigade at the defence of Eupatoria in November 1854 during the Crimean War. He became First Naval Lord in June 1885 and in that role was primarily concerned with enshrining into law the recommendations contained in a report on the disposition of the ships of the Royal Navy many of which were unarmoured and together incapable of meeting the combined threat from any two of the other naval powers : these recommendations were contained in the Naval Defence Act 1889.

Henry Edmund Goodridge was an English architect based in Bath. He worked from the early 1820s until the 1850s, using Classical, Italianate and Gothic styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butleigh</span> Human settlement in England

Butleigh is a small village and civil parish, located in Somerset. The nearest village to it is Barton St David, and it is located a short distance from Glastonbury and Street. Its population is 823. Butleigh has a church, small village shop, a Church of England primary school and Butleigh Nursery School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compton Dundon</span> Village in Somerset, England

Compton Dundon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, lying beside King's Sedgemoor and the Polden Hills, 5 miles (8 km) south of Glastonbury and 4 miles (6 km) north of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 705. The parish includes the small village of Dundon and the hamlet of Littleton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, of Shenstone</span> British admiral

Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, GCB, was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain's servant he took part in the Battle of The Glorious First of June in June 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars and, as a captain, he participated in the capture of the French ships Marengo and Belle Poule at the action of 13 March 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. He was detached on an independent command on the Tagus in September 1831 with a mission to protect British interests during the Portuguese Civil War. As Commander-in-chief of the East Indies and China Station, he provided naval support at various actions between 1841 and 1842 during the First Opium War. Appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in February 1845, he was briefly First Naval Lord in the First Russell ministry from 13 July 1846 to 24 July 1846 but gave up the role due to ill health before returning to his command with the Mediterranean Fleet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerset Gough-Calthorpe</span>

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe, sometimes known as Sir Somerset Calthorpe, was a Royal Navy officer and a member of the Gough-Calthorpe family. After serving as a junior officer during the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War, he became naval attaché observing the actions of the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russo-Japanese War and then went on to command an armoured cruiser and then a battleship during the early years of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cunningham (Royal Navy officer)</span>

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Henry Dacres Cunningham was a Royal Navy officer. A qualified senior navigator, he became Director of Plans at the Admiralty in 1930. He saw action as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the Second World War with responsibility for the allied landings at Anzio and in the south of France. He served as First Sea Lord in the late 1940s: his focus was on implementing the Government's policy of scrapping many serviceable ships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William James (Royal Navy officer, born 1881)</span> British admiral and politician (1881–1973)

Admiral Sir William Milbourne James, was a British naval commander, politician and author. He served in the Royal Navy from the early 20th century to the Second World War. During the First World War, he was an integral part of the Naval Intelligence Division in its early years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compton Domvile (Royal Navy officer)</span> Royal Navy Admiral (1842–1924)

Admiral Sir Compton Edward Domvile, was a distinguished Royal Navy officer in the Edwardian and Victorian eras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (British Army officer)</span> British soldier and courtier (1814–1904)

General Alexander Nelson Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, 4th Duke of Bronte, was a British Army officer and courtier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Kymin</span> Hill with follies in Wales

The Kymin, is a hill overlooking Monmouth, in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located approximately one mile east of Monmouth, on the eastern side of the River Wye and adjacent to the border with the Forest of Dean and England. The summit of the hill, about 800 feet above sea level, is known for its neo-classical monuments, the Roundhouse and the Naval Temple, built between 1794 and 1800. It is registered on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The site is within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is owned by the National Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Hallowell Carew</span>

Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. He was one of the select group of officers, referred to by Lord Nelson as his "Band of Brothers", who served with him at the Battle of the Nile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Hamilton (Royal Navy officer)</span> Royal Navy Admiral (1856–1917)

Admiral Sir Frederick Tower Hamilton was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Codrington</span>

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry John Codrington KCB was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he saw action during the Greek War of Independence and was present at the Battle of Navarino. He later undertook a survey of enemy positions prior to the bombardment of Acre during the Egyptian–Ottoman War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Peirse (Royal Navy officer)</span> Royal Navy Admiral (1860-1940)

Admiral Sir Richard Henry Peirse, was a senior Royal Navy officer during the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Leonard, Butleigh</span> Church in Somerset, England

The Anglican Church Of St Leonard in Butleigh, within the English county of Somerset, was built in the 14th century. It is a Grade II* listed building.

References

  1. 1 2 "Admiral Hood Monument". Public Monument and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Admiral Hood Monument". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 "SIR SAMUEL HOOD". The United Service Magazine: 384. 1831.
  4. Holt, Jonathan (2007). Somerset Follies. Bath: Akeman Press. ISBN   978-0-9546138-7-7.
  5. The United Service Magazine gives his name as "Goodriche"
  6. "Follies". South Somerset. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 23 March 2008.
  7. "Admiral Hood Monument, Compton Dundon - 1056743 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2023.