'A Perspective View of The Parade in St James's Park showing the New Buildings for the Horse Guards, the Treasury, and the Admiralty Office'

Coloured line engraving by and after J Maurer. Published by John Bowles, 1752 (c).

Horse Guards grew from a simple building that housed troops on duty as escorts to the King to become the headquarters of the British Army in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The 'new' Horse Guards building, seen here, was designed in the Palladian style by the famous architect, William Kent (1685-1748) and constructed between 1750 and 1756. Visible in the background are the Admiralty, Treasury Building (also designed by Kent and completed in 1736) and the rear of Downing Street.