Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a public plaza in Westminster, surrounded by museums, galleries, and historic buildings. Its open space brings together fountains, statues, demonstrations, cultural events, and everyday city life.

The square developed from former Great Mews stables serving Whitehall Palace between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. John Nash began its nineteenth-century redevelopment, and the National Gallery followed soon after. Nelson’s Column commemorates Admiral Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar in 1805. William Railton designed it, while E. H. Baily created the granite statue above a bronze platform made from old Woolwich guns. Bronze panels show battle scenes, while lions designed by Edwin Landseer stand below. Fountains with mermaids, dolphins, and tritons complete the central view.

A café, public toilets, and a lift provide facilities and step-free access. The northwest plinth presents contemporary commissioned artworks, while imperial measures remain set into the north terrace wall. A small police box on the southeast corner now stores equipment after beginning as a lamp and later receiving a police telephone. The Norwegian spruce from Oslo arrives each Christmas, carrying a tradition of friendship, peace, and solidarity. Rallies and demonstrations keep this civic setting active.