In the heart of London, just steps from St James's neighborhood, stands a bronze group sculpture that most passersby photograph and move on from: three guards in cloaks, silently standing before their banners. But if you ask where the bronze of this monument comes from, the answer takes you thousands of kilometers away — to Istanbul's Üsküdar neighborhood, and not by accident.
What Story Does the Monument in Waterloo Place Tell?
The Guards Crimean War Memorial — typically translated into English as the "Crimean Guards Memorial" — is located in Waterloo Place in Westminster, London. It is protected by Historic England as Grade II listed (registry number 1066141). The monument was designed by sculptor John Bell in memory of members of the Guards Brigade (Brigade of Guards) who lost their lives in the Crimean War (1854–1856) and was unveiled in 1861. Above the three soldier figures rises a classical female figure bearing olive branches. According to Historic England, the bronze is said to have been cast from cannons captured during the Siege of Sevastopol — that is, this is not verified in official records but is a widely shared narrative.
Why Did the Crimean War Place Üsküdar at the Center of This Story?
The Crimean War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, with an alliance formed by England, France, and Piedmont-Sardinia from 1853–1856. While the main theater of war was the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea's opposite shore — Istanbul, specifically Üsküdar — became a natural logistics and medical base for allied forces. Wounded soldiers transported by ship from the Crimean front lines to the nearest large, safe harbor — Istanbul, especially Üsküdar — was a natural consequence of this geography. Thus a war on the Crimean Peninsula was commemorated in a monument thousands of kilometers away in London; meanwhile, the place that truly bore the daily burden of the war was Üsküdar. Those who died in the war were not only English soldiers; the graves of Ottoman soldiers who died in Plymouth during the Crimean War still bear witness to the price of this alliance. Similarly, the Turkish Naval Cemetery in Gosport is another trace left on English soil from that same period.
Selimiye Barracks: Where Modern Nursing Was Born
Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar were used as a military hospital by the British Army from 1854–1856. On November 4, 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived with 38 volunteer nurses. According to the Florence Nightingale Museum, when Nightingale arrived, the barracks already held 2,300 wounded soldiers; within weeks, this number reached 10,000 wounded from Turkish, French, and English forces. The hygiene, record-keeping, and patient care practices that Nightingale developed here are considered foundational to modern nursing; the English phrase "the lady with the lamp" — still used today — stems from her nightly rounds through the wards checking on the wounded. In 1954, the Turkish Nurses Association initiated the placement of a marble plaque on one of the barracks' towers, and that same year a museum opened in that tower.
Selimiye Barracks remains an active military facility today. Access to the Florence Nightingale Museum section is subject to permission, and visiting conditions may change periodically; if you plan to visit, you must verify current entry procedures and required permissions in advance with the relevant authority.
The English Cemetery at Haydarpaşa
Another trace of the Crimean War in Istanbul is found in elevated terrain between Üsküdar and Kadıköy, behind Haydarpaşa Station. According to CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) records, this land was allocated to the English Government by the Ottoman Government in 1855 and houses approximately 6,000 Crimean War graves, the majority of which are those who died in a cholera epidemic. In the section dating from the Crimean War period, a gray granite obelisk erected by the English Government commemorates the dead English soldiers. The cemetery was used as an English civilian burial ground after 1867 and during World War I was designated for Commonwealth war prisoners' burial. The CWGC maintains the cemetery today; according to the organization's data, visiting is limited to specific weekday hours and closed on weekends/public holidays — current visiting hours should be verified on CWGC's own website. Encountering such foreign cemeteries in different Istanbul neighborhoods is actually not uncommon; the history and locations of the city's maritime cemeteries reveals another facet of this multinational past.
The Florence Nightingale Statue Beside the Monument
The most striking part of the Waterloo Place story is when Istanbul's connection shifts from being merely an indirect association to becoming a physical proximity. According to Historic England's records, the Crimean Guards Monument was relocated in 1914 to make room for the square's north side to receive the Florence Nightingale statue (sculptor Arthur George Walker) and War Secretary Sidney Herbert's statue (sculptor John Henry Foley). Today all three stand side by side in the same square: the monument to soldiers who died in war alongside the statue of the nurse who tried to heal them in Üsküdar, on the same stone ground. London's Crimean War sites are not limited to this stop; elsewhere in the city, a 500-year-old Suleiman the Magnificent cannon testifies to a different era.
For Those Who Want to See the Monument in London
Waterloo Place is a public square in St James's between Pall Mall and Regent Street; since the monument is in an open-air location, admission is free and requires no special entry procedures. It's also possible to see the Nightingale and Sidney Herbert statues in the same square. If you wish to expand your London visit and plan other museums and historical stops, the guide to arranging city tours and museum tickets abroad may be useful. For those wanting a better grasp of the Crimean War's geography and the Ottoman Empire's borders during that period, the article on which countries today correspond to Ottoman Empire territories offers a helpful starting point.
In Summary
The Crimean Guards Memorial in Waterloo Place is not merely a monument to English military history; it is directly connected to Selimiye Barracks in Üsküdar — where Florence Nightingale laid the foundations of modern nursing — and the thousands of Crimean War dead buried in the English cemetery in Haydarpaşa. The monument erected in 1861, combined with the Nightingale statue moved to the same square in 1914, physically embodies this connection. When you walk past these three statues in London, you are actually passing through a piece of Üsküdar's 1850s history.
