In February 1838, a group of 121 peers, Members of Parliament (MPs) and other gentry formed a committee to raise a monument to Lord Nelson, funded by public subscription, and the government agreed to provide a site in Trafalgar Square, in front of the newly completed National Gallery.

The winning entry, chosen by the sub-committee headed by the Duke of Wellington was a design by William Railton for a Corinthian column, surmounted by a statue of Nelson, and flanked by four sculpted lions.

[9] Construction of the monument, by the contractors Grissell and Peto, progressed slowly, and the stonework, ready for the installation of the statue, was not completed until November 1843.

In 1844, the Nelson Memorial Committee ran out of money, having only raised £20,485 in public subscriptions,[10] and the government, in the form of the Office of Woods and Forests took over the project.

[6] Installation of the bronze reliefs on the pedestal did not begin until late 1849, when John Edward Carew's depiction of the death of Nelson was put in place on the side facing Whitehall.

[14] The 5.5-metre (18 ft 1 in) statue at the top was sculpted by Edward Hodges Baily R.A. from three pieces of Craigleith type sandstone donated by Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, former chairman of the Nelson Memorial Committee, from his own quarry at Granton, Edinburgh.

[16] The Corinthian capital is made of bronze elements, cast from cannon salvaged from the wreck of HMS Royal George[17] at the Woolwich Arsenal foundry.

The bronze pieces, some weighing as much as 900 pounds (410 kg) are fixed to the column by the means of three large belts of metal lying in grooves in the stone.

[21][22] Thomas Milnes received the commission in 1858, and produced four full-scale models in sandstone, each individualised to represent Peace, War, Vigilance and Determination.

Subsequently mill owner Sir Titus Salt bought the statues instead for a civic building at the centre of his workers village, installed on pedestals in 1869.

Dressed in Victorian attire and sporting a boater hat, Wilmot enjoyed tea and sandwiches at the top of the column before climbing down.

On 14 June 1992, it was climbed by Martin Cotterrel, Joe Simpson and John Stevenson on behalf of Greenpeace to protest against the first Earth Summit meeting in Brazil.

On 13 April 1995, Simon Nadin free-climbed Nelson's Column with Noel Craine, Jerry Moffatt and Johnny Dawes following on top rope, and graded the climb as "E6 6b/5a".

On 13 May 1998, the Column was climbed by Al Baker, Peter Morris and John Cunningham on behalf of Greenpeace to protest against Old growth logging activity in British Columbia.

In May 2003, BASE jumper and stuntman Gary Connery parachuted from the top of the column, in a stunt designed to draw attention to the Chinese policies in Tibet.

In December 2015, Disney paid £24,000 to cover it in lights to make it resemble a giant lightsaber, to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

[32] On 18 April 2016, in the early hours of the morning, Greenpeace activists climbed up the column and placed a breathing mask on Admiral Lord Nelson in protest of air pollution levels.