Waterloo lion memorial renovation delayed

Initially announced for early September this year, the long-awaited refurbishment to the iconic Lion’s Mound, a centrepiece of the Waterloo battlefield, has still not got off the ground.

In anticipation of the 200th anniversary next year of this Walloon Brabant monument, nearer actually to the town of Braine l’Alleud than to Waterloo, Belgium’s Buildings Agency scheduled various maintenance and safety works.

These would include cleaning, and, if necessary, repairing the statue, restoring the pedestal, and renovating the 226 steps, replacing them if damaged, to the top of the 40-metre-high monument.

But Belgium’s finance inspectorate, responsible for monitoring the legality and regularity of public expenditure, has refused to award the contract.

Following an appeal by the Buildings Agency, deputy prime minister and budget minister Vincent Van Peteghem approved the project, but work is yet to start.

With the work schedule still needing to be established, the Waterloo battlefield managers hope everything will be completed in time for next April 2026, the start of the tourist season.

For its part, the Buildings Agency confirms that the aim is to complete the work before the lion’s bicentenary. Visitors will not be able to climb up to one of Belgium’s most famous landmarks during this renovation.

Erected between 1824 and 1826, the Lion’s Mound is the most widely recognised landmark of the Waterloo battlefield. At the request of the Dutch King, William I (1772-1843), it was built on the spot where his son, the young Prince of Orange, is said to have been wounded on 18 June 1815.

The lion itself is made from nine pieces of iron cast in Seraing. It weighs 28 tonnes, and measures 4.5m long and 4.45m high from its head to its feet.