Trafalgar Square in the Evening Light

Evening view of Trafalgar Square with 2 notable buildings and 2 notable memorials., all traces of past Empire.

First Nelson's Column built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton. The sandstone statue of Nelson is by E. H. Baily and the four bronze lions on the base, added in 1867, were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer.

Second, South Africa House was built in the 1930s. The building was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, who was also the architect of Imperial New Delhi and opened in 1933. During World War II, Prime Minister Jan Smuts lived there while conducting South Africa's war and as a prominent member of Churchill's War Cabinet.

Third, St Martin-in-the-Fields is at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since the medieval period and the present building was constructed in Neoclassical style by James Gibbs in 1722–1724.

Fourth, Charles James Napier commanded the 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot during Peninsular War in Iberia against Bonaparte. Napier was wounded and left for dead on the battlefield of Corunna. He was rescued, barely alive, by a French Army drummer named Guibert, and taken as a prisoner-of-war, after he was returned to British hands.

Napier volunteered to return to the Iberian Peninsula in 1810 to fight again at the battles Coa, Bussaco, Fuentes de Onoro and the Siege of Badajoz, in which he was a lieutenant colonel in the 102nd regiment. .

In 1842, at the age of 60, Napier was appointed Major General to the command of the Indian army within the Bombay Presidency. His orders had been only to put down the rebels in Sindh, and by conquering the whole Sindh Province he greatly exceeded his mandate. Napier was supposed to have despatched to his superiors the short, notable punning message, "Peccavi", the Latin for "I have sinned".