Here we have a silhouette of the Wellington Monument in the Blackdown Hills near Wellington, Somerset.

I had just dropped my son off at school in Tiverton and was heading back home, and, as the evening was sunny (certainly way more than I had seen for much of the day!) I decided to take a small detour to take a look – I was rather hoping for some spectacular views across the Somerset and Devon countryside, but the trees around the monument have now grown too tall to be able to see anything – mind you, the monument is still quite impressive.

The monument itself has had quite a history – originally, it was to be some 29m high with a cast iron statue of the Duke of Wellington to commemorate Wellington’s victory at Waterloo.  However, the money ran out soon after it started in 1816…it was finally finished in the 1820’s, but more as the obelisk that we see today, far from the original design (somewhat similar to Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square in London) – repairs were done after lightning strikes, with the final work being completed at the end of the 19th Century.

The National Trust took over the management of the monument in 1934 and since then it has required various repairs every 10-15 years – there is currently a fence around the base of the monument due to a risk of falling debris.  Disappointingly, this has also fenced in the stone plinth that gives distances to various landmarks (not that these are visible due to the trees)

Note:  The details above came from the sign near the monument – the information given on Wikipedia varies somewhat…

Technical details:

Fuji X-E1;18mm(XF 18-55mm f2.8-4 R LM OIS);f/14;1/420s;ISO200; Handheld
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