Brompton Cemetery

West Brompton, London

Brigade of Guards Memorial

The Brigade of Guards Memorial was originally erected in 1889 in memory of the peacetime dead of the Guards between 1854 and 1889. Brompton Cemetery was chosen as the location as it served as London’s Military Cemetery between 1854 and 1939. The memorial was the idea of General Moncrieff and at the time of its unveiling on 30th November 1889 by General Sir Frederick Stephenson, over 1,000 men had already been buried there. Their names are recorded on tombstones surrounding a central obelisk made of white Sicilian marble atop a Cornish granite base, with the orginal masonry carried out by Messrs Burke and Co. Names after 1889 have been added over the years and some minor restoration work was carried out in 2010. The Trust employed stonemason Mr. Martin Gwilliams to restore the missing lettering on the tombstones and to clean them. The work was completed in early September 2023 after over a year’s work, with much of the damage to the stones being worse that originally thought and additional damage being caused by the weather over the winter.

Royal Visit

Our Patron, HRH the Princess Royal came to visit the restoration work on 22nd June 2022, where she met with the Trust’s major donors, volunteers, staff and trustees. Escorted by Chairman of the Trustees Mr. Algy Cluff and fellow trustee Mr. Richard Kellaway, Her Royal Highness visited the monument to view the work in progress and was also shown the graves of several Victoria Cross holders that are buried in Brompton Cemetery. This was followed by a reception in the Museum at Wellington Barracks in Central London.

The Restorations