The Camphill Column in Alnwick

Alnwick

Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....

, Northumberland

Northumberland

Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, is a stone column erected in 1814, celebrating a number of British victories over the French and others, and the restoration of peace to Europe. It carries inscriptions to Pitt

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

, Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

, Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

 and its progenitor, Henry Collingwood Selby. The column is a Grade II* listed building.

The column

Camp Hill is a site described as dating back to the time of the ancient Britons; an oval shape now much degraded and measuring some 120 yards by 104 yards. The hill is alternately described as the site of an army camp.

The column at Camp Hill was commissioned by Henry Collingwood Selby and constructed by John Hall, mason. It was situated in the grounds of Selby's estate, Swansfied Park. It is suggested that Selby "was a keen defender of the status quo against those locally who were sympathetic to the principles of the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

."

The column is described as being "executed after Vetruvius

Vitruvius

Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....

' plan". The column stands on two large square steps, and is surmounted by a stone ball. The Public Monument and Sculpture Association description of the column is "Small Tuscan

Tuscan order

Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...

 column surmounted by a platform with a small pedestal

Pedestal

Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....

 and ball finial

Finial

The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...

 on top. It stands in a copse on the damaged remains of an oval univallate hillfort

Hill fort

A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

in the middle of what is now a golf course."

On the square tablets of the east, south, west, and north sides are the following inscriptions:

England has saved herself by her firmness, and Europe by her example. - Pitt

This Pillar was erected by HENRY COLLINGWOOD SELBY, a Magistrate of this County, to commemorate the persevering and victorious efforts of the British Empire by sea and land during an arduous struggle of XX years, and the signal successes of the Powers united with this Country at the close of that eventful period; the expulsion of the French from Russia after the burning of Moscow in MDCCCXII, the defeats of their armies in Germany in the memorable campaign of MDCCCXIII, the invasion of France, the surrender of Paris, the downfall of Napoleon Buonaparte, the re-establishment of the Bourbon monarchs, and the restoration of Peace to Europe in MDCCCXIV.

Vice-Admiral HORATIO VISCOUNT NELSON of the Nile defeated the French and Danish Fleets at Aboukir and Copenhagen, and fell in the decisive victory of Trafalgar achieved over the combined Navies of France and Spain in MDCCCV.

Field Marshal THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON having vanquished the Armies of France in Portugal and in Spain, at the Battles of Vimeira and Talavera, Salamanca and Vittoria, drove them beyond the Pyrenuces, and advancing to the banks of the Garonne again overthrew them under the walls of Toulouse in Mdcccxiv.

The Right Honourable WILLIAM PITT directed the councils and energies of his country during the first years of a just and necessary war, and died in MDCCCVI, having established that wise and vigorous system of policy, which succeeding statesmen, emulous of his example, steadily pursued till they secured Independence for the Nations of the Continent and a Peace of unparalleled glory for this empire.

The column was listed in August 1977, and survived the demolition of Selby's seat, Swansfield House, in 1975, and now stands within the grounds of Alnwick Golf Club.