'Kendal - Elba Monument'

Location : Kendal
Map - Ordnance Survey - SD 496951

The Elba Monument is situated in a field just off the A591, down a lane that leads to Burneside called Hollins Lane. The monument was erected in 1814 by James Bateman of Tolson Hall. It was built by the Tories of Kendal, in response to the Castle Howe monument in the centre of town.

It was designed to glorify the imprisonment of the Emperor Napoleon, but he escaped before the memorial’s plaque was in place. It took 100 years for the originally intended inscription to appear, when Charles Cropper of Ellergreen paid for the plaque to be made and mounted on the monument.

The obelisk stands to the North West of Kendal on a mound known today as Monument Hill, with good views out towards Kendal. It’s on private property and can only be viewed from the adjacent road.