Guards Memorial

The Guards Memorial stands on the west side of Horse Guards Road, acting as a permanent, stone-hewn sentry overlooking the parade ground. It takes the form of a thirty-eight-foot-high Portland stone obelisk, designed by architect H. Chalton Bradshaw and sculptor Gilbert Ledward to honor the members of the Guards Division who fell during the First World War. When it was unveiled in 1926, the memorial served as a solemn tribute to fourteen thousand fallen soldiers, and its purpose eventually expanded to commemorate those from the Household Division who died in the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.