Princes Gardens

The park is on the site of the former Royal Engineers Yard where a small party of NCOs and men of the Royal Engineers arrived in November 1853 making them the first soldiers to arrive in Aldershot, a fact commemorated on a modest plaque in the ground behind the sculpture of the horse and Bailey bridge. These engineers were responsible for surveying and making the preliminary arrangements for Aldershot Camp. At this time the area was heathland with the only building in sight being the Union Poor House, the former home of the Tichborne family. As the Camp was established and grew, the Royal Engineers expanded their initial small collection of huts and this area became the Royal Engineers…

On 6 July 2019 a life-size statue called 'The Airborne Soldier' was unveiled in the park. The figure stands on a base of stone from the Falkland Islands, a gift from the people and Government of the Falkland Islands. Sculpted by Amy Goodman, the statue is located in Aldershot in recognition of the more than 50 years association the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces had with the town and people of Aldershot from 1946 to 2000. The statue is placed looking towards the former Parachute Regiment Depot in the Military Town. More than 2,000 former and serving Airborne Forces soldiers led by the Band of the Parachute Regiment paraded at the celebrations followed by a drumhead service in…

Today Princes Gardens is a venue for public events including local celebrations and public concerts. It has a number of ornamental flower beds with grassed areas and seating. In celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Rushmoor Borough Council erected a permanent bandstand in 2012 where brass bands, dancers and solo artists regularly perform. The design was chosen by local people and the bandstand was officially opened in 2012 during the town's Victoria Day Jubilee Celebration Victoria Day Jubilee Celebration. Central to the park is a sculpture of a charging horse crossing a section of Bailey bridge titled “The end is where we start from” which was unveiled in 1994 as part of an Older…