The bust and upper torso of King George III stands on a plinth in the Castle, a fragment of a Coade Stone statue modelled by Joseph Panzetta that once stood on Dunston Pillar, about 6 miles south of Lincoln. The full statue stood 14ft (4.3m) tall and depicted the King in his Coronation robes with orb and sceptre. Erected by Robert Hobart (1760-1816), 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1810 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of George III’s 50-year reign with the statue of the King and the inscription:

THE STATUE UPON THIS PILLAR WAS ERECTED AD 1810 BY ROBERT EARL OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE TO COMMEMORATE THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REIGN OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE THE THIRD

Despite some storm damage in 1931 when his right forearm and sceptre fell, the statue remained on Dunston Pillar until 1941 when the height was considered hazardous to wartime aircraft at nearby RAF Waddington and RAF Coleby Grange. Although the Ministry instructions were to dismantle the statue with the greatest of care, this proved more difficult than anticipated and the statue was effectively unceremoniously toppled and broke into countless pieces. The incident was likened to ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and there were quips about ‘putting King George together again’.

Many are restored here as a fragment of King George III, though the rest survives in the below ground cells of the Georgian Prison in the Castle.

When the statue was being erected, a stonemason tragically fell to his death. John Willson was buried in nearby Harmston churchyard, and he is remembered with a headstone depicting the pillar and a fitting epitaph:

He who erected the noble King,
Is here now laid dead by Death’s sharp sting

Dunston Pillar was originally erected by Sir Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 2nd baronet, of West Wycombe and Hell-fire Club fame who acquired property in the area when he married Sarah Ellis of nearby Nocton Hall in 1745. Dashwood erected the Dunston Pillar in 1751 as an inland lighthouse to guide travellers across Dunston Heath but became obsolete following the opening of the turnpike road. The lantern was lit for the last time in 1808 and fell from the pillar in a storm the following year.