[2] In January 1830, Lander and his brother, John, departed Truro on an expedition to find the source and trace the course of the Niger River.

They reached Yelwa (in modern-day Nigeria) before navigating downstream in canoes, becoming the first Europeans to discover that the Niger drained into the Atlantic.

Lander was awarded the Royal Geographical Society gold medal and the brothers' journals were published by John Murray to great acclaim, then translated into multiple languages.

[2] The monument consists of a tall Doric column by the architect Philip Sambell, completed in 1835, surmounted by a statue of Lander by the sculptor Neville Northey Burnard in 1852.

The column is in dressed grey granite and stands on a substantial square plinth carved from ashlar.