The original monument, built in 1820, was 96 feet (29 m) in height. It was built of granite and a staircase inside wound up to its summit.[2] It had the simple inscription, "Doyle - Gratitude".[3]
A coloured engraving of the monument appears in the book Festung Guernsey which was created by the German occupiers to document their defences of the island.[4] The monument was demolished by German engineers in 1944 during the
Occupation as Batterie Strassburg was built close to the site and it blocked the 360-degree angle of fire, photographs showing the demolition were taken.[5]
Replacement
A second smaller monument, a granite column, was built in the same location, a small hill, at a cost of £1,400, and was completed in 1953.[6][7]