Trafalgar Square - Famous London Square and Tourist Attraction

King Charles I on horseback faces down Whitehall to the site of his execution in 1649. This fine equestrian statue of King Charles I has stood on this spot since 1676, it was sculpted by Hubert Le Sueur in 1633 from life.
After the restoration the statue was placed on the site of the original Eleanor's Cross which had also been the spot where several Regicides were hanged, drawn and quartered.
From this same spot all mileages from London are measured.

Many visitors to Trafalgar Square, pass by London's smallest police station without even noticing.
It once had a direct telephone line to Scotland Yard.
It's days as a police look-out post have passed and these days it is used as a storage room.
The light on the top of the box reputedly comes from HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship.

To the east of Trafalgar Square is the lovely church of St-Martin-in-the Fields with its tall spire. There has been a church here for centuries, and the fields were still green in Oliver Cromwells day.
The Royal Arms remind us that this is the parish church of Buckngham Palace.
In the now lost graveyard lie Nell Gwynn - favourite of Charles II, Louis Roubilliac - the famous French sculptor, Jack Shepherd - the highwayman and many other famous Londoners.

Nelson's Column is the focal point of the square, standing at 145 feet tall, it provides a fitting monument to Britain's greatest naval hero. The lions were put in place to guard the base of Nelson's column in 1868. The bronze bas-reliefs around the lower part of the monument depict some of Nelson's famous maritime victories - Battles of St. Vincent, Copenhagen, the Nile and death scene from the Victory and are cast from cannon captured by Nelson.

The famous lions, fountains and statues in Trafalgar Square attract millions of tourists every year.
The fountains were added in 1845 and their mermaids and dolphins in 1920.
The four corner pedestals of Trafalgar Square boast two soldiers and a king
- George IV and the commanders Major General Sir Henry Havelock and General Sir Charles Napier.
One plinth is still vacant at the present time and waiting for a hero.

Trafalgar Square is bordered by Admiralty Arch in the southwest corner which leads into the Mall and Buckingham Palace.
The National Gallery is on the north side of Trafalgar Square, Canada House on the west side and the stately South Africa House and the Strand to the east.
Admiraty Arch is also famous for the nose-shaped protrusion that can be found in the arch to the left of the central one.
Legend differs - Napoleon's nose or Wellingtons? - but still its origin remains unknown.

The statue of George Washington in Trafalgar Square, stands at the corner of the National gallery. It is a bronze copy of Houdon's statue at Richmond, Virginia, showing him bareheaded, booted and spurred, resting his right hand on a cane and holding a bundle of sticks in his left hand.
George Washington once declared he would never again set foot on Englsh soil and to help him keep to his word, the soil that the statue stands on was imported from Virginia.

.Nelson is the height of three men at the top of his great column and is said to face his right in salute to his fleet which is represented by effigies of his ships which adorn the lights lining The Mall.
The figure of Nelson is in three pieces and is 17 feet high.
When the statue was erected, fourteen men had dinner on the platform on which Nelson's pedestal rests before the scaffolding came down.