The final two pieces of the new £950,000 Paternoster Square column have been lifted into position, completing 10 months of work by CWO, the stone specialist arm of the Geoffrey Osborne Group.

Designed by architects Whitfield Partners, the column, standing 23m high, is London\'s largest free-standing monument to be built in a century. The new column will form a central feature of the pedestrianised Paternoster Square, the £400million office and retail development of Mitsubishi Estate Co.

With the base and shaft of the column already erected, the first of the final two pieces to be placed was the intricately carved corinthian capital. Nine months in the making, the capital started life as a 50 tonne block of Portland Combefield Whitbed stone. Trimmed down to 25 tonnes during the rough cut, the finished capital was whittled down to 10 tonnes at CWO\'s workshops in Chichester, Sussex.

The capital sits on top of the shaft of the column which comprises five pieces of Portland each weighing six tonnes. This in turn sits on a base stone of about four tonnes.

The whole column is mounted on a Portland limestone and De Lank granite water feature with eight cascades.

The main feature of the column, a 3m-high gold leafed copper urn with flamed finial, was the crowning glory. At night the urn will be illuminated by the latest fibre-optic lighting, creating a major new landmark for the City.

Holders of the prestigious Royal Warrant by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen, CWO combine traditional craft skills for new stonework and restoration with the latest in modern equipment and business methods.