![]() The memorial in June 2016 | |
![]() | |
Location | Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear |
---|---|
Designer | John Graham Lough and John Dobson |
Type | Statue |
Material | Marble and Sandstone |
Height | 23 feet (7.0 m) |
Completion date | 1845 |
Dedicated to | Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood |
The Collingwood Monument is a Grade II* listed [1] [2] monument in Tynemouth, England, dedicated to Vice Admiral Lord Cuthbert Collingwood. A Napoleonic-era admiral noted for being second-in-command to Admiral Lord Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar, Collingwood is sometimes referred to as the forgotten hero of Trafalgar. [3] [4] The monument's base is by John Dobson and the statue is a work of the sculptor John Graham Lough. It is situated just off Front Street in Tynemouth and overlooks the mouth of the River Tyne. [2]
Lord Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of a merchant. [5] He attended the Royal Grammar School [6] and joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer at the age of 12. From there he continued his nautical education under his cousin Captain Richard Brathwaite. After serving in the British Naval Brigade at the Battle of Bunker Hill, Collingwood was commissioned in 1775 as a lieutenant. His first command was HMS Badger, after succeeding Horatio Nelson, and his first major command was HMS Sampson. During the Battle of Trafalgar Collingwood assumed command of the British fleet after the death of Lord Nelson, transferring to the HMS Euryalus. Collingwood then led the fleet and completed the battle plans that he and Nelson had created together. [3] For his role in the battle Collingwood was given the thanks of both houses of Parliament and awarded a pension of £2,000 per annum, as well as being promoted on 9 November 1805 to Vice-Admiral of the Red and raised to the peerage as Baron Collingwood, of Caldburne and Hethpool in the County of Northumberland. [7]
In 1805, Collingwood was appointed to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. After requesting to be relieved of his command the Government stated that it urgently required an admiral of his calibre to lead against the dangers of the French and her allies, and that his country could therefore not dispense of him. However, in 1809, his health declined and he was granted leave. In 1810, Collingwood died of cancer on board HMS Ville de Paris as he sailed for England. [8] He was laid to rest beside Lord Nelson in St Paul's Cathedral. During his career he had served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and had been awarded three Naval Gold Medals, making him one of only three people to share the distinction of earning a total of three. [9]
The monument was erected to commemorate Collingwood and his connection to North Shields, and was deliberately positioned so that it could be seen from the Tyne. It was paid for by public subscription. The architect was John Dobson and John Graham Lough was responsible for the sculpture. The monument features a high wide base, with slit openings and a door in the rear. A flight of steps leads to the base of the plinth and side walls flank the steps. Upon the walls are four cannon from HMS Royal Sovereign, Collingwood's flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar. The statue of Collingwood stands upon this plinth and the is draped in a cloak over Collingwood's Royal Navy uniform. The figure's left hand rests on a bollard wrapped in rope. [2]
The monument was completed in 1845 except for the cannons, which were added in 1849. [2]
The inscription on the plinth reads:
THIS MONUMENT was erected by public subscription to the memory of ADMIRALLORD COLLINGWOOD who in the Royal Sovereign on the 21st October 1805 led the British fleet into action at Trafalgar and sustained the sea fight for upwards of an hour before the other ships were within gun shot which caused Nelson to exclaim 'SEE HOW THAT NOBLE FELLOW COLLINGWOOD TAKES HIS SHIP INTO ACTION He was born at Newcastle upon Tyne 1748 and died in the service of his country on board of the VILLE DE PARIS on 7 March 1810 AND WAS BURIED IN ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL THE FOUR GUNS UPON THIS MONUMENT BELONGED TO HIS SHIP THE "ROYAL SOVEREIGN" |
The monument is the scene of a murder in Season 11 of the TV series Vera (in the episode entitled Witness).
The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during which he lost his life, killed by a French sniper. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian order built from Dartmoor granite. The statue of Nelson was carved from Craigleith sandstone by sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. The four bronze lions around its base, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer, were added in 1867.
HMS Bellerophon, known to sailors as the "Billy Ruffian", was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A third-rate of 74 guns, she was launched in 1786. Bellerophon served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought in three fleet actions: the Glorious First of June (1794), the Battle of the Nile (1798) and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). While the ship was on blockade duty in 1815, Napoleon boarded Bellerophon so he could surrender to the ship's captain, ending 22 years of almost continuous war between Britain and France.
Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
HMS Royal Sovereign was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, which served as the flagship of Admiral Collingwood at the Battle of Trafalgar. She was the third of seven Royal Navy ships to bear the name. She was launched at Plymouth Dockyard on 11 September 1786, at a cost of £67,458, and was the only ship built to her design. Because of the high number of Northumbrians on board the crew were known as the Tars of the Tyne.
HMS Neptune was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She served on a number of stations during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought only one fleet action, the Battle of Trafalgar, but became so well known for that action and her subsequent depictions in art and literature that she has been remembered as The Fighting Temeraire.
Neptune was a Bucentaure-class 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Built during the last years of the French Revolutionary Wars she was launched at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. Her brief career with the French included several major battles, though she spent the last 12 years of her life under the Spanish flag.
Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope, KCB, KSO was a British naval officer, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including service at the Battle of Trafalgar. A close personal friend of Admiral Nelson, he received many honours following the battle, and later served as a Lord of the Admiralty.
Captain Edward Rotheram CB was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy, who served for many years during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars. During his service, Rotheram saw action at several major naval engagements, including as a lieutenant at the Glorious First of June in 1794 and as captain of HMS Royal Sovereign at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Although he was highly praised for his actions at both battles, he was not well regarded in the service, being once described by his admiral at Trafalgar, Cuthbert Collingwood, as "a man of no talent as a sea officer" and "a stupid man".
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, during which he was killed. He was responsible for several famous victories that helped to secure British control of the seas, both securing Britain from French invasion and frustrating Napoleon's imperial ambitions. After his death during his defeat of the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar, there was a public outpouring of grief. Nelson was accorded a state funeral and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
William Prowse CB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Rising from humble origins and joining the navy as an able seaman, he had a highly active career, serving under some of the most famous naval commanders of the age of sail, and participating in some of their greatest victories. He was at Grenada and Martinique under Byron and Rodney, the Glorious First of June under Howe; and commanded ships at Cape St Vincent under Jervis, Cape Finisterre under Calder and Trafalgar under Nelson. He finished his career by serving with distinction in the Mediterranean, and died with the rank of Rear-Admiral.
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Dundas KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. An effective frigate captain he made a number of small captures, but did not see action in any major fleet clashes, until he was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. He played an important role in relaying signals before the battle, and in towing dismasted British ships to safety afterwards. He had a largely uneventful career thereafter, rising through the ranks and eventually dying a vice-admiral.
The Trafalgar campaign was a long and complicated series of fleet manoeuvres carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets; and the opposing moves of the Royal Navy during much of 1805. These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so achieve a successful invasion of the United Kingdom. The plans were extremely complicated and proved to be impractical. Much of the detail was due to the personal intervention of Napoleon, who as a soldier rather than a sailor failed to consider the effects of weather, difficulties in communication, and the Royal Navy. Despite limited successes in achieving some elements of the plan the French commanders were unable to follow the main objective through to execution. The campaign, which took place over thousands of miles of ocean, was marked by several naval engagements, most significantly at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, where the combined fleet was decisively defeated, and from which the campaign takes its name. A final mopping up action at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November completed the destruction of the combined fleet, and secured the supremacy of the Royal Navy at sea.
Sir John Lawford was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history. His victory on 21 October 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar led to British naval supremacy for over another century and beyond.
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was ordered in 1758, laid down in 1759, and launched in 1765. With 246 years of service as of 2024, she is the world's oldest naval vessel still in commission.
William Lechmere was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
John Erasmus Blackett was a Newcastle upon Tyne businessman and Mayor of Newcastle after whom Blackett Street in central Newcastle is named. He was the father-in-law of Admiral Lord Collingwood, second-in-command to Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.
55°00′53″N1°25′12″W / 55.0148°N 1.4201°W Vera ITV 26/8/21