Stoodley Pike Monument

The Grade II listed 121 foot (37 m) high Stoodley Pike Monument dominates the skyline above Todmorden, sitting atop Stoodley Pike, a 1,300-foot (400 m) hill The monument was designed in 1854 by local architect James Green, and completed in 1856 at the end of the Crimean War.

Stoodley Pike Monument contains a spiral staircase of 39 steps, accessed from its north side, which take you to  a viewing platform. If you visit, please be aware that several of the internal steps are in darkness, so it’s useful to have a torch to light your way, as there are no windows. The entrance to the balcony is on the Monument’s west face, some 40 feet above ground level. The views are well worth the walk and the climb!

The monument replaced an earlier structure, commemorating the defeat of Napoleon and the surrender of Paris. It was completed in 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, but collapsed in 1854 after decades of weathering and a lightning strike.

An inscription above the entrance on the Monument reads:

STOODLEY PIKE

A PEACE MONUMENT

ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION

COMMENCED IN 1814 TO COMMEMORATE

THE SURRENDER OF PARIS TO THE ALLIES

AND FINISHED AFTER THE BATTLE OF

WATERLOO WHEN PEACE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1815.

BY A STRANGE COINCIDENCE

THE PIKE FELL ON THE DAY THE RUSSIAN

AMBASSADOR LEFT LONDON BEFORE THE

DECLARATION OF WAR WITH RUSSIA IN 1854

WAS REBUILT WHEN PEACE WAS RESTORED IN 1856

REPAIRED AND LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR FIXED 1889

There is no vehicular access to the Monument, but it is accessible by the Pennine way, well-defined Right of Way footpaths and by mountain bike. There are many walking routes to the Pike from Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd. The Monument is close to both the Top Brink and Shepherd’s Rest Inns.

For more information  about walking in Calderdale, please visit our Walking page.