The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme stands near Thiepval in Picardy, France. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed it, and the Prince of Wales unveiled it on August 1, 1932. It rises 140 feet (43 meters) above a podium that is itself 20 feet (6.1 meters) above the adjoining cemetery.
The memorial has 16 piers with 64 stone-paneled sides, 48 of them inscribed with names of the missing. Interlocking arches of four sizes frame a main arch aligned east to west, and a tower rises above it. A Stone of Remembrance stands in the central space. Sixteen stone laurel wreaths name sub-battles of the Somme.
Portland stone clads the piers, and the original brick was refaced in 1973. Thiepval Anglo-French Cemetery lies at its foot. A major ceremony is held each year on July 1. The memorial became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.
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