The View
From the Peak to the Pennines, the Napoleonic Wars seem to have spawned more hilltop memorials than any other conflict.
‘WAR!’ ASKED EDWIN Starr. ‘What is it good for?’ Absolutely nothing, according to the answer he came up with himself almost immediately. And with the Russian invasion of Ukraine causing a terrible European war that rages right now, you can see his point. But with the passage of time, wounds heal and rawness fades. One particular conflict has left an abundance of marks not only in our cities but on the landscape we walkers love: the Napoleonic Wars. Trafalgar Square is the most famous example, but unless you’re keen on exhaust fumes and wheely suitcases, Nelson’s Column may not have much to recommend itself as a walking destination. But other Napoleonic War monuments and memorials very much are, even if, like me, your knowledge of the conflicts (there were seven apparently) is sketchy.
The ‘Nile Clumps’ are a series of clusters of beech trees on Salisbury Plain spread out over three quarters of a mile and making a pleasant (signboarded) stroll in the Stonehenge environs. They were planted by Charles Douglas, a Marquess of Queensberry and friend of Nelson’s mistress, Emma Hamilton, on his estate in Amesbury. They were a tribute planted after Nelson’s death at Trafalgar but commemorating his victory at the earlier Battle of the Nile in 1798, with each ‘clump’ representing the locations of ships during the battle. Nineteen remain of the original 23 (many have succumbed to the natural lifespan of the beech) and are under preservation orders.
Another is Paxton’s Tower near Llanarthney, Carmarthenshire. Though known by the name of its builder rather than the great naval hero, this gothic hilltop folly also honours Nelson. It bears a glowing tribute which ends thus: “…ultimately for his own country and for Europe, conquering, he died; this tower was erected by William Paxton.”
It’s a nice landmark to stroll to and you can still get inside, I think, though I was last there when I was about 12 and thought the Battle of Anderlecht was a Belgian football derby.
On Birchen Edge, in the heather moorland above Baslow in the Peak District, there’s a gritstone obelisk surmounted by a ball which is another tribute to the great admiral. A stern injunction on the plaque reads PLEASE DO NOT DEFACE OR TIE ROPES TO THE MONUMENT; presumably a warning to the huge local climbing community.
Three big ‘erratics’ nearby, said somewhat fancifully to resemble the prows of fighting ships, are named for three of Nelson’s vessels: Victory, Defiance and Royal Sovereign (or Sovrin as the inscription rather disappointingly spells it).
You can easily combine a trip here (and a visit
