History

Dated 1852. A gift to the town of his birth from the sculptor of the monument John Evans Thomas, Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of the County of Brecknock. Thomas was a pupil of Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841) distinguished sculptor of portraits and busts.

Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was the outstanding British military commander of the Napoleonic Wars and the victor at the battle of Waterloo, and subsequently Prime Minister. Born to Anglo-Irish aristocracy and educated at Eton and the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, Wellesley joined the British Army aged 18. He first saw action in the disastrous Flanders campaign against Revolutionary France in 1793-4. From 1797 to 1805 Wellesley was stationed in India where he fought wars against the Kingdom of Mysore and the Maratha Empire to expand the area controlled by the British East India Company. He became a Tory MP in 1806 and again in 1807 before re-joining the Army. From 1808 onwards he rose to prominence in the Peninsular War in Portugal and Spain against Napoleonic France. He was made the Duke of Wellington in 1814 and in 1815 commanded the final allied victory against Napoleon at Waterloo. He returned to politics and became Prime Minister twice. As a diplomat he encouraged other European powers to repress the international slave trade, though he supported the West India interest that was dependent upon continuing use of enslaved labour. He supported Catholic emancipation while opposing the same for Jews. His government collapsed in 1830 due to its opposition to Parliamentary reform and expanding voting rights. He acted as a caretaker Prime Minister again for three weeks in 1834.

Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), was the most senior officer to die at the battle of Waterloo, which brought the French Wars to an end. Born in Pembrokeshire, Picton first joined the British Army aged 13 and in 1794 volunteered for service in the West Indies. When Trinidad was captured from Spain in 1797 Picton was appointed as military Governor. Picton used torture and public executions to control the enslaved population while accumulating great personal wealth through ownership of slaves and plantations. His violent methods were controversial and he was forced to resign as Governor in 1803 and return to Britain where he faced legal proceedings. He was arrested, tried and convicted of permitting the torture of 14-year-old Luisia Calderon (1787-1825), but his conviction was overturned on the grounds that torture was permissible in Spanish law. The publicity given to the case influenced contemporary debates about the slave trade. The Duke of Wellington called him "a rough foul-mouthed devil as ever lived", but from 1810 onwards Picton earned accolades for his service in the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France and in 1813 he was elected MP for Pembroke. In 1815 he was amongst over 4000 allied British, Dutch and German soldiers killed in the battle of Waterloo. Both Wellington and Picton are buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

Exterior

The monument comprises a bronze statue 2.5 metres high, on a pedestal of stone with rusticated base and ornamented with bronze bas-reliefs. The statue comprises a standing figure in frock coat and cloak, with its weight on the right leg and with the left leg bent at the knee and inclined slightly forward, the left hand grasping a sword, the right hand a scroll. The bronze relief on the SW side alludes to the Peninsular War; the NE panel depicts Picton charging the French cavalry at Waterloo. The NW side of the pedestal bears the inscription "Picton, MDCCCXV"; SE side is inscribed "Wellington, MDCCCLII."

Reasons for Listing

Listed notwithstanding Picton’s associations with slavery as a fine bronze public sculpture at very centre of old town. Group value with the many surrounding listed buildings.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q28087861

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
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  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)