The Wellington Monument stands on a point of the Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England, about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) south of the town of Wellington. William Sanford proposed it in 1815 and began a public subscription. Thomas Lee won the design competition, and building started in 1817. It honors the first Duke of Wellington and his 1815 victory at Waterloo.
The monument is a triangular, three-sided obelisk, the tallest in the world. It is 175 feet (53 meters) high and 80 feet (24 meters) wide at the base. The form recalls an Egyptian obelisk and the triangular socket bayonets of Wellington's armies. It is built of local sandstone from Northay.
Construction restarted after the Duke's death, and Henry Goodridge completed the monument in 1854. The National Trust acquired it in 1934, and it is a Grade II* listed building. It reopened in August 2021 after repairs.
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