Our Memorials | The Memorials | National Memorial Arboretum

There are over 400 memorials in our 150-acre grounds. From those made in glass and steel, to bronze and stone you’ll find memorials of all shapes and sizes.

The memorials remember:

Her Majesty’s Armed Forces by service type, regiment, association and role.
Those who served in specific campaigns or locations since the beginning of the 20^thcentury.
Our Emergency services
Civilian services, organisations, charities and groups who have served or serve the nation.
Military and civilian organisations from across the Commonwealth who have served and sacrificed for the United Kingdom.
Others specifically recognised for their service or sacrifice.

Image of Royal Air Forces Memorial Garden Eagle

Finding a Memorial

You can view a list of the current memorials via the link below. During a visit our team will be happy to help you find specific memorials or recommend areas that you might like to visit as you are exploring.

Find a Memorial

Family reading the new Arboretum Guidebook - 3494 x 2389

Maps and Guidebooks

Maps and Guidebooks which provide more information about the memorials and where you’ll find them in our grounds can be purchased from our Welcome Desk. The Guidebook, new for October 2023, features four highlighted routes around the Arboretum and contains the stories behind some of the 400+ memorials you will see along the way.

Information about some of our most recognisable memorials can be found below:

Naval Services Memorial

Coloured glass has been used in this memorial to represent the oceans of the world. Two further panels of yellow, representing the rising sun and red for the setting sun and the blood spilled at sea and on land are also included in the design. On sunny days the glass panels cast the shadow of a warship on the paved area. The poem around the edge of the memorial is the Tennyson poem ‘crossing the bar’, a phrase used when shipmates die.

The Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps Memorial

This bronze memorial features two women dressed in the uniforms of the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps. The land girl holds a sprig of corn in one hand and a pitchfork in the other. The Lumber Jill holds an axe, a sprig of oak and a pine cone, symbolising the woods with which they worked. During the Second World War over 240,000 Land Girls and Lumber Jills worked to provide food and timber for the war effort.

The Burma Railway Memorial

The Burma Railway Memorial was created to remember those who were forced to construct the infamous ‘Railway of Death’ during the Second World War. The memorial is constructed from 30 metres of the original track. During the construction of the 258-mile railway over 16,000 Prisoners of War and 100,000 labourers died – one life for every sleeper laid.

Parachute Regiment Memorial. Bronze Statue of Pegasus and Bellerophon with soldier and Bergen

The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Memorial

The emblem of the Airborne Forces is Bellerophon mounted on the winged horse Pegasus which features in the design of this memorial. You’ll also see a figure of a paratrooper pulling in his bergen. The memorial sculptors are Charlie Langton for Pegasus and Mark Jackson, a former Major of the Parachute Regiment, for the human figures.

The Beat

The Beat is a living, growing memorial with a tree planted for every police force in the United Kingdom. The trees used are a mix of Horse chestnut, chosen because the first policemen carried truncheons made from this wood, and London Plane.

New Memorials

Many of our visitors are interested to learn how the memorials are created and the process for having new memorials added in our grounds. As a charity we are unable to fund the construction and installation of memorials. The memorials that you see have been installed by external organisations and charities. We welcome formal applications for groups wishing to dedicate a new memorial.

Applying to dedicate a memorial

Information