Culture

The Battle of Waterloo has inspired hundreds of artists, writers, poets and film-makers. Public imagination was captured by the fateful clash between Wellington and Napoleon, and by the incredible human cost of many thousands killed or injured. Even today, the memory of Waterloo is still reflected in our lives, from train stations to song lyrics.

Discover some of the legacy of Waterloo by exploring the objects and articles below.

  • Film Poster

    Film poster: Waterloo

    The 1970 American poster from the original release of the film “Waterloo” is probably the most high profile piece of media about the battle. The determined faces of Napoleon (played by Rod Steiger) and Wellington (played by Christopher Plummer) dominate the poster as they had dominated the military face of Europe over more than 20 years.

  • Lord Byron on Waterloo

    Byron's Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage - inspired by events surrounding the Battle of Waterloo

  • Maclisse Mural, House of Lords.

    The Meeting of Wellington and Blücher at Waterloo

    This enormous mural, painted by the artist Daniel Maclise, shows the meeting of the victorious British and Prussian Generals at the end of the Battle. It is painted on the walls of the Royal Gallery in the House of Lords, Westminster.

    The destruction of the old Palace of Westminster by fire in 1834 allowed Victorian Britain the chance to construct a new seat of Government that embodied emblems of the nation’s past successes. Waterloo was a key event in securing Britain’s dominant place in the world and was chosen, along with Trafalgar, as the subject of two huge murals commissioned for the Royal Gallery of the new Houses of Parliament.

  • Waterloo Station Poster

    Waterloo Station Poster

    This poster of Waterloo Station was drawn by the artist Helen McKie for the railway station’s 100th anniversary in 1947. It is a charming demonstration of how the memory of Waterloo still remains in place names and in our common culture.

  • William Wordsworth: Occasioned by the Battle of Waterloo

    After visiting the battlefield William Wordsworth composed three poems.

  • Becoming a Historical Re-Enactor

    Find our what it is like to become an historical re-enactor

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