![Trooping the Colour, 1956](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Trooping_the_Colour%2C_1956.jpg)
Horse Guards Parade is a large
parade ground
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...
off
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
in
central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
(at
grid reference
A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...
). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of
Trooping the Colour
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed every year in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of the British Army. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. Trooping the Colour has been a tradition of British infantry regi ...
, which commemorates the
monarch's official birthday, and the
Beating Retreat
Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating to 17th-century England and was first used to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.
History
Originally it was known as watch setting and was initiated at sunset by the firing of a single ...
.
History
![Parade at Horseguards](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Parade_at_Horseguards.jpg)
Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the
Palace of Whitehall
The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. H ...
's
tiltyard
A tiltyard (or tilt yard or tilt-yard) was an enclosed courtyard for jousting. Tiltyards were a common feature of Tudor era castles and palaces.
The Horse Guards Parade in London was formerly the tiltyard constructed by Henry VIII as an entertainm ...
, where
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
s (including
jousting
Jousting is a martial game or hastilude between two horse riders wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament (medieval), tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying t ...
) were held in the time of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
. The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century.
The adjacent
Horse Guards building was once the Headquarters of the British Army.
The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
was based in Horse Guards when he was
Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The current General Officer Commanding London District still occupies the same office and uses the same desk. Wellington also had living quarters within the building, which today are used as offices.
Car park usage
![Horse Guards - London - UK](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Horse_Guards_-_London_-_UK.jpg)
For much of the late 20th century, Horse Guards Parade was used as a car park for senior
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
s; about 500 were granted the privilege, which was known as the 'Great Perk'.
The
PIRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
's
mortar attack on 10 Downing Street on 7 February 1991, which was carried out from a vehicle parked in Horse Guards Avenue nearby, narrowly missed causing casualties and led to concerns. In April 1993 the Royal Parks Review Group, headed by Dame Jennifer Jenkins (later Baroness Jenkins) recommended that the parade should be restored for public use, and linked to St James's Park by closing Horse Guards Road. The proposal was taken up by the Department of National Heritage but then resisted by senior Cabinet members, apparently under pressure from the civil servants who were to lose their parking places.
Public revelation of the resistance led to considerable criticism by
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992.
Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
, a newspaper columnist, who pressured
Sir Robin Butler,
Head of the Home Civil Service
His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, whic ...
, to end general usage as parking as part of a wider programme of reforms.
In late 1996 Horse Guards Parade was cleared, for repairs, and in March 1997 it was announced that parking was banned.
Layout
The parade ground is open on the west side, where it faces
Horse Guards Road
Horse Guards Road (or just Horse Guards) is a road in the City of Westminster, London. Located in post code SW1A 2HQ, it runs south from The Mall down to Birdcage Walk, roughly parallel with Whitehall and Parliament Street.
To the west o ...
and
St James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...
. It is enclosed to the north by the
Admiralty Citadel
A number of military citadels are known to have been constructed underground in central London, dating mostly from the Second World War and the Cold War. Unlike traditional above-ground citadels, these sites are primarily secure centres for defen ...
and the
Admiralty Extension building, to the east by
Admiralty House,
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
's
Horse Guards (formerly the headquarters of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
) and the rear of
Dover House
Dover House is a Grade I-listed mansion in Whitehall, and the London headquarters of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The building also houses the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland and the Independent Commission ...
(home of the
Scotland Office
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland ( gd, Oifis Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba), often referred to as, and formerly officially called, the Scotland Office, is a department of His Majesty's Government headed by the Secretary of Sta ...
), and to the south by Kent's Treasury building (now used by the
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
), garden walls of
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...
(the official residence and office of the
British Prime Minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
) and Mountbatten Green before the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's west wing. Access to the south side is restricted for national security.
On the east side, Horse Guards Parade is normally accessible to the public from Whitehall through the arches of Horse Guards.
Monuments
![Guards Division War Memorial](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Guards_Division_War_Memorial.jpg)
A number of military monuments and trophies ring the outside of the parade ground, including:
* To the west, beside
St James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...
, the
Guards Memorial
The Guards Memorial, also known as the Guards Division War Memorial, is an outdoor war memorial located on the west side of Horse Guards Road, opposite Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom. It commemorates the war dead from the Guards ...
, designed by the sculptor
Gilbert Ledward
Gilbert Ledward (23 January 1888 – 21 June 1960), was an English sculptor.
He won the British Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1913, and in World War I served in the Royal Garrison Artillery and later as a war artist. He was professor of s ...
in 1923–26 and erected to commemorate the
First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. Th ...
and other battles of World War I.
* To the north, the
Royal Naval Division War Memorial
The Royal Naval Division Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Horse Guards Parade in central London, and dedicated to members of the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division (RND) killed in that conflict. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the memorial ...
, designed by Sir
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
in 1925, removed before the Second World War, and returned to its original site beside the Admiralty Extension building and rededicated on "Beaucourt Day" (13 November 2003).
* To the east:
**
Equestrian statue
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...
s of Field Marshals
Roberts and
Wolseley (see
Equestrian statue of the Earl Roberts, London and
Equestrian statue of the Viscount Wolseley
The equestrian statue of the Viscount Wolseley is an outdoor sculpture depicting Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, located at the Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom. It is by Sir William Goscombe John and was unveiled by the Du ...
).
** A
Turkish cannon made in 1524 "by Murad son of Abdullah, chief gunner" which was captured in Egypt in 1801.
** The
Cádiz Memorial, a French mortar mounted on a brass monster which commemorates the lifting of the siege of
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
in Spain in 1812.
* To the south, statues of Field Marshal
Kitchener and of Admiral of the Fleet
Mountbatten
The Mountbatten family is a British dynasty that originated as an English branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted on 14 July 1917, three days before the British royal family changed its name to “Windsor”, by ...
(see
Statue of the Earl Kitchener, London and
Statue of the Earl Mountbatten, London).
An oddity is the black background to the number 2 of the double sided clock which overlooks the Parade Ground and the front entrance, it is popularly thought to commemorate the time the last absolute monarch of England,
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, was beheaded at the
Banqueting House
In English architecture, mainly from the Tudor period onwards, a banqueting house is a separate pavilion-like building reached through the gardens from the main residence, whose use is purely for entertaining, especially eating. Or it may be buil ...
opposite.
Sporting and public events
2012 Summer Olympics
![2012 Summer Olympics - Beach volleyball](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/2012_Summer_Olympics_-_Beach_volleyball.jpg)
Horse Guards Parade hosted
beach volleyball
Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two or more players on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side of the ...
at the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
held in London. Temporary courts and seating designed by
Populous were installed by the Arena Group, much as seating is installed annually for Trooping the Colour. There was one court with a capacity of 15,000 with two tiers and a floodlight tower at each of its four corners, two practice courts to the east of the arena, and a further six practice courts at St. James's Park. Most matches were played on Centre Court, but some matches were played on Court 1 on day 6 of the competition.
London Polo Championships
Horse Guards Parade hosted the 1st London Polo Championships on 17 and 18 June 2009 with teams from around the world.
Sainsburys Anniversary Games 2014
On Sunday 20 July 2014, a temporary arena played host to the anniversary games.
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 51.5047, -0.1283, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title
17th-century establishments in England
Event venues established in the 17th century
Squares in the City of Westminster
Parks and open spaces in the City of Westminster
Sports venues in London
Equestrian venues
Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic volleyball venues
Parade grounds