THE MEDAL presented to a soldier who fought at the Battle of Waterloo has sold for £1,800.

William Brooks, who lived with his wife, Ann, and five daughters at Moss Cottage, Wyndcliff near Chepstow, was a soldier with the 1st Lifeguards at the famous battle fought near Brussels in Belgium between June 16 and June 18 1815.

His Waterloo Medal was one of more than 600 decorations sold at auction house Spinks in London last Thursday (Arpril 23).

William was born at Almondbury near Huddersfield in Yorkshire and was just 19 when the decisive engagement with Napoleon took place.

He spent more than a decade living out his retirement in the Wye Valley and was described in census records in 1841 and 1851 as 'pensioner 1st Lifeguards'.

William enrolled in the Lifeguards in 1812 and fought in the 'Peninsular War' in Spain and in the Battle of Toulouse the year before Waterloo.

He was officially discharged from the army in 1844 after serving nearly 33 years.

The unknown buyer paid a total of £2,160 after auction costs were added.