Walking along you wouldn’t bat an eye lid at this rather bollard – that’s unless you knew the history of it.
In October 1805 the Battle of Trafalgar took place between the British Navy and joint French & Spanish fleets. Twenty seven British ships were up against 33 of their counterparts and, after a bloody battle, won, resulting in over 4,000 deaths and 2,5000 casualties. Enemy ships were stripped of anything valuable and the Brits wanted to flaunt their victory.
They did so by using French cannons as bollards. Dozens were used across central and East London and were so popular that replicas were also produced. Most have been removed although this one on the Southbank still remains.
