Reflect, remember, and reconnect at the National Memorial Arboretum. The National Memorial Arboretum, located in Alrewas, Staffordshire, is the UK’s year-round center of remembrance, set within 150 acres of lush woodland and gardens. Home to over 400 memorials, the arboretum honors military and civilian lives lost in service to the nation. Visitors can explore beautiful landscapes, tranquil spaces, and thought-provoking tributes, making it a place for reflection and appreciation of history.
This inspiring site offers guided tours, exhibitions, and events throughout the year, including Remembrance Day services and family-friendly activities. The grounds are a living tribute, evolving with new trees and memorials that reflect the stories of courage, sacrifice, and unity. With its café and visitor center, the arboretum provides a welcoming space for all ages to connect with history and nature.
Visitors can enjoy discovering over 400 memorials nestled amongst some 25,000 trees, experience riverside walks and participate in a wide variety of daily activities: guided walks, land train tours, memorial talks, exhibitions and buggy tours. Each year around 250 events take place on site, from small intimate services of Remembrance to set piece events like Armistice Day, Remembrance Sunday, and Armed Forces Day.
Full of symbolism, the memorials and gardens are there to tell the stories of those remembered. On visiting you will be fascinated by the wide range of memorials on site: some military, some for specific campaigns, some for the emergency services, along with tributes for civilians.
The Arboretum was officially opened to the public in May 2001 by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, with the Armed Forces Memorial, a national monument to those who have lost their lives on duty or as an act of terrorism since the Second World War, being dedicated six years later in 2007. The addition of the Armed Forces Memorial saw visitor numbers grow from 65,000 each year to 300,000 and it became apparent new, larger facilities would soon be required.
In 2009 an appeal was launched with His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge as its patron to raise money for a new Remembrance Centre to prove a befitting gateway to the Arboretum, to tell the story of Remembrance, and provide suitable visitor facilities. Opened in 2016, the Remembrance Centre is now a busy, atmospheric hub in which we welcome over 300,000 people annually. In 2018, a second building, Aspects, was opened to provide facilities for over 250 events each year – many of them Remembrance services, dedication events, military reunions and now, increasingly corporate and private events for those who wish to be part of this special place.
Although many of the trees are still young, they are rapidly growing into a unique living tribute. Every year sees the dedication of new memorials and special events at the Arboretum. Over ninety percent of our visitors surveyed say they will return, many time and time again, to see the Arboretum as it develops.
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