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Waterloo 200, Memorials of
the Battle on the MOD estate
the role of the original buildings
at Sandhurst.
Hougoumont Farm
Even on the Salisbury Plain training
estate, which was first bought by the
Army over 80 years after the Battle of
Waterloo, there is a reminder of the
Battle. During the 17th and 18th
centuries a substantial farm grew up at
Collingbourne Ducis and in 1774 it was
bought by the Marquis of Ailesbury.
The Marquis’s sons were in the army
and both died at Waterloo, so the
Marquis named his farms Hougoumont
and Mount Orleans after the Belgian
farms on either side of the battlefield.
The imposing cannon that stand outside Old College that were used at the Battle of Waterloo © Crown
The 18th June 2015 marks the 200th
anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a
decisive battle which finally resulted in
the end of Napoleon as a threat to
Europe. After his defeat, he was exiled
to St Helena where he died in 1821.
During the Napoleonic Wars there was
a massive mobilisation of soldiers and
sailors, and it is estimated that across
Europe 18,000,000 men were
mobilised, with 1,000,000 from Britain.
Scattered around the MOD estate
there are still remnants of one of the
world’s most famous battles.
Sandhurst
During the Napoleonic Wars it became
increasingly obvious that whilst there
were some talented offcers, there
were many which fell below the grade.
Offcer cadets had been trained at
Great Marlow, but it was decided that a
purpose built site was needed and in
1808 Sandhurst was finally approved.
In the initial stages a number of
buildings were constructed, the most
impressive is now Old College which
was designed by Thomas Wyatt. In
1812 the Junior Department moved
from Great Marlow into Sandhurst, but
the site was unfinished so the cadets
and teachers had to live on a noisy and
busy building site for several years. At
the time new restrictions were brought
in and only candidates over 4ft 9in
(145cm) tall and thirteen years old or
over could apply. Outside Old College
there are a couple of imposing cannon
that were used at the Battle of
Waterloo, which are an impressive and
permanent reminder of the Battle and
The Wellington Memorial
After the Battle, Wellington was feted
around Europe, being given gifts and
honours. One of the finest monuments
to Wellington is the equestrian statue
now at Aldershot on MOD land.
Wellington sits on his famous horse
Copenhagen. It is 30ft high and 26ft
long and weighed 40 tonnes and
much of the bronze used in the statue
is from melted down French guns
captured at Waterloo. It was originally
located on Wellington Arch on Hyde
Park Corner, but, partly because it
obscured Queen Victoria’s view from
Chatham French War Memorial © Brian Simpson
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015