Where To Find The Duke of Wellington’s Mounting Block

London’s streets are awash with fascinating street furniture, hiding in plain sight, you just need to know where to look.

I have, for example, written about the Piccadilly Porter’s Rest before in a previous post. I also talk about all sorts of quirky street furniture in my new book! 

Another easy-to-miss detail is the Duke of Wellington’s mounting blocks outside the Athenaeum Club in St James’s. 

Athenaeum Club

The Athenaeum Club was founded in 1824 as a gentleman’s club for those with intellectual interests. St James’s was and still is a hotspot for these clubs and became known as ‘Clubland’.

In 1830 Decimus Burton designed their new clubhouse on Pall Mall. As you can see it is a glorious, neo-classical building with an eye-catching blue and white bas-relief around the facades, a copy of the frieze on the Parthenon in Athens.

Athena is depicted over the entrance; the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and from whom the club took its name. 

The club has had many famous members over the years including Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin and Thomas Hardy. Amongst this glittering list is the Iron Duke himself: Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. 

The Duke, victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and, with Nelson, probably the most revered military figure in Britain’s history, was a keen member of the club during his first tenure as Prime Minister from 1828-1830. 

The Duke’s Mounting Block

The Athenaeum Club building is impressive and rather attention grabbing but look down to the pavement outside the club for our, slightly more pedestrian-looking, but no less interesting in my opinion, historical oddity.

The Duke of Wellington lived at Apsley House, now a museum by Hyde Park, and would make the journey to the club on horseback.

By the time he was Prime Minister in 1828 he was in his late fifties and not as nimble as he once was. He therefore requested that mounting blocks be installed outside the club on Waterloo Place to aid with a graceful mount and dismount. 

A mounting block was therefore installed for the aging Duke outside the club. There is also one on the other side of the road.

The Duke of Wellington’s mounting blocks are a great lesson in always looking up, down and all around you as you walk around London: you never know what stories seemingly mundane objects may hold. 

So next time you’re in St James’s make sure to pay them a visit.

Thank you for reading! More of London’s quirky history below: