Immediately to the north of Charing Cross opens Trafalgar Square, laid out in 1829-41 on a spot formerly occupied in part by the royal mews and said to have been described by Sir Robert Peel as 'the finest site in Europe.' The centre of the square, not open to vehicles, is a favourite rendezvous for political and social demonstrations, the orators speaking from the plinth of the Nelson monument; and on this spot, so intimately connected with the naval and military glories of Britain, crowded recruiting-meetings were frequently held during the first years of the Great War. On the south side of the square towers the Nelson monument (1840-43), designed by William Railton and surmounted by a colossal statue of Lord Nelson, victor at Trafalgar in 1805, by E. H. Bailey (1843). The fluted granite column, rising from a base guarded by four colossal bronze couchant lions, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer (1867), is a copy of one of the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Mars Ultor at Rome. At the foot of the column are four bronze reliefs cast from captured French cannon: the Battle of St. Vincent, by Watson (West side; 1797), the Battle of the Nile, by Woodington (North side; 1798), the Battle of Copenhagen, by Ternouth (East side; 1801), and the Death of Nelson at Trafalgar, by Carew (South side; 1805). The capital was cast from cannon recovered from the wreck of the 'Royal George'. The monument is annually decorated on the anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar (October 21st). The plinth was damaged during the unofficial rejoicings of Armistice Day (November 11th, 1918). The total height of the monument as measured in 1905 and 1919 by William Larkin, steeple-jack, is 184 feet 11 inches: base 44 feet 6+ inches, column with its acanthus capital 109 feet, pedestal of statue 14 feet, statue 17 feet 4+ inches. On the east and west sides respectively of the Nelson monument are statues of Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), the hero of the Indian Mutiny (by Behnes), and Sir Charles James Napier (1782-1853), the conqueror of Scinde (by Adams). Between the fountains, designed by Sir Charles Barry, which are fed by artesian wells, is a statue of General Gordon (1833-85), who perished at Khartum (by Hamo Thornycroft). The equestrian statue of George IV. (1762-1830), by Chantrey, on the pedestal at the north-east corner of the square, was originally intended to surmount the Marble Arch. On the terrace-wall on the north side of the square may be seen official standards of British lineal measures. A bronze replica of Houdon's marble statue of George Washington (1732-99) at Richmond, Va., presented by Virginia, was unveiled in 1921 to the right of the entrance to the National Gallery. Around the double open space formed by Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square are several notable buildings. The most conspicuous is the National Gallery, the facade of which is generally considered to be not quite worthy of its commanding position on the terrace above the north side of the square. On the west side are the Canadian Building, the office of the High Commissioner for Canada, and the Royal College of Physicians (refaced in 1925), both built by Sir Robert Smirke about 1825. The former was occupied by the Union Club until 1925. The statues (by H. Weeks; 1866) on the north facade of the latter (in Pall Mall East) represent Linacre (above the door), who founded the college in the reign of Henry VIII., Harvey (right), and Sydenham (left). The large church of St. Martin's in the Field, at the north-east corner of the square, built in 1721-26, is perhaps the finest work of James Gibbs, though the harmony between the dignified Corinthian portico and the elaborate spire has been criticized. In the richly decorated interior, with its Corinthian columns, are a bust of the architect by Rysbrack, and a font from the previous church, at which Francis Bacon, John Hampden, and Charles II. were christened. Thomas Moore was married in this church to Bessie Dyke, the actress, in 1811. In the burial register occur the names of George Heriot (died 1624), the banker and jeweller, William Dobson (died 1646), the 'English Tintoretto,' Nell Gwynn (died 1687), Farquhar (died 1707), the dramatist, Roubiliac (died 1672), the sculptor, and Thomas Chippendale (died 1779), the cabinet-maker. The crypt remains open all night as a shelter. The offices of the Union of South Africa are on the east side of the square.
