Flanders Fields Memorial Garden

The Flanders Fields Memorial Garden is a memorial space in Westminster featuring a circular grass bed filled with soil collected from World War I battlefields across Flanders. A stone bench made of Flemish bluestone provides a quiet place where visitors can pause and reflect.

The memorial was inaugurated in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II and King Philippe of Belgium, honoring British soldiers who fought to defend Belgium during World War I. The garden was created as a lasting tribute to those who served in that conflict.

The garden wall displays excerpts from John McCrae's poem 'In Flanders Fields', making the space feel connected to British and Belgian shared history. Today, visitors gather here to pay respects and reflect on the bonds between the two nations formed through wartime sacrifice.

The garden sits next to the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks, making it easy to find and visit as part of exploring the military complex. Visitors should know that remembrance ceremonies take place here regularly throughout the year, which adds meaning to a visit.

The soil in the garden comes from 70 different battlefields and military cemeteries across Flanders, collected by schoolchildren and transported to London aboard a Belgian Navy frigate. This method of gathering the earth makes each handful of soil a direct connection to the places where soldiers fell.