Horse Guards, Whitehall

Architect: William Kent (replacing an older building)

1750-59, with later enlargements

London

The Horse Guards and Admiralty lie on the east side of St James' Park. Annually on the day officially appointed, on the open space called the Parade, between the Park and the Admiralty, the imposing military ceremony known as "trooping the colours" is performed by the Guards. [Text accompanying the scanned photograph.]

Rear elevation, giving on to Horse Guards Parade. This recent photograph (2025) also shows the London Eye.

On Whitehall itself, this is the popular tourist attraction where people go to see mounted guardsmen stationed in the guardboxes either side of the main ceremonial entrance to Horse Guards Parade. Seen from the rear, together with the adjacent Admiralty building, it forms the backdrop to ceremonies on the parade ground like the daily (on weekdays) Changing the Guard, and the annual (in June) Trooping the Colour. [JB]

The scan, by Nathalie Chevalier, comes from a volume by an unidentified photographer bearing the imprint "With H. and C. F. Feist's compliments" but no name, date, or place of publication, though the Feists were dealers in port wine, and Plate 30 demonstrates that the photograph must have been taken after 1902, and John R. Mendel offers evidence that it dates before mid-1906 [GPL]. The recent photograph was taken by Robin Banerjee. You may use both images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the appropriate person, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Links to Related Material

• Early picture postcard of the Whitehall view
• The Old Admiralty Building and the parade ground
• Admiralty Arch

Bibliography

Weinreb, Ben, et al. The London Encyclopaedia. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan, 2008 (see p. 416).

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Last modified 11 September 2025