Is this acre in England really American territory?

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If I should die, think only this of me: / That there’s some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England.

Did those famous opening lines of “The Soldier”, a sonnet by World War I poet Rupert Brooke, inspire Queen Elizabeth II to do the opposite — gift a piece of England to a foreign country? On May 14, 1965, she did just that. Dedicating a memorial to John F. Kennedy, the Queen formally presented the acre on which it stood to the U.S. — the first and only time a British monarch has ever given a part of the homeland to another nation.

A group of adults and children greet a woman in a hat and coat while officials and onlookers stand in the background during an outdoor event. — The Queen (left) welcoming the Kennedys to Runnymede: Jackie (in white) flanked by her children John Jr (shaking the Queen’s hand) and Caroline, and next to them JFK’s two surviving brothers, Robert and Edward. (Credit: Freddie Reed/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The assassination of U.S. President Kennedy, just 18 months prior, had shocked the world, but perhaps the UK more than most other countries. The president’s father had been U.S. ambassador to Britain from 1938 to 1940, and a young JFK had spent time in the country during that period.

The choice of the memorial’s location — at Runnymede, west of London and close to Windsor — symbolized an even deeper bond between Britain and America. This meadow on the banks of the Thames is where, in 1215, King John sealed the Magna Carta, a document that curbed royal power by the rule of law, laying the groundwork for constitutional democracy. The charter’s effects can be traced all the way to the U.S. Constitution, many centuries later.

That’s why the American Bar Association had already erected a Magna Carta Memorial in 1957. The Kennedy Memorial, unveiled almost 750 years to the day after the signing of Magna Carta, reinforces that transatlantic link.

Aerial view of a grassy area labeled "Jfk Memorial 1965" with a large American flag, surrounded by trees and paths, shown on a mobile device screen. — This acre inside England is the property of the U.S. government. But that doesn’t make it “American soil”. (Credit: @realityexplained1514/YouTube)

Inspired by Pilgrim’s Progress, landscape architect Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe designed the Memorial to feel like a “meaningful ascent.” Visitors scale 50 irregular granite steps, one for each U.S. state, and arrive at a seven-ton block of Portland stone.

Chiseled in the rock is the deed of the land: “This acre of English ground was given to the United States of America by the people of Britain in memory of John F. Kennedy.” The text ends with a quote from JFK’s inaugural address: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, or oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

Behind the slab stands an American scarlet oak, which turns red in November, the month of Kennedy’s assassination. A path leads to two stone seats — one for the president, the other for his consort — providing a view of the Thames.

All very poignant and symbolic. But is this acre of England truly “forever America”?

A woman stands in front of the John F. Kennedy memorial stone with flowers laid at its base, as a group of people observe in the background. — JFK’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg lays a wreath at the Memorial in Runnymede during a service on 22 November 2013, marking the 50th anniversary of the president’s assassination. Etched in stone: the gift of this acre of English ground to the U.S.A. Symbolically, the Kennedy Memorial may be American soil, but technically, it remains British territory. (Credit: Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

The deed is not just etched in stone: Ownership of the land was effectively transferred to the U.S. federal government, and its management is maintained by the Kennedy Memorial trust, which also funds scholarships for UK students to go study in the U.S.

In that practical sense, Kennedy’s acre at Runnymede is American. But only in that sense. The UK retains full sovereignty over the area. The U.S. does not have any extraterritorial privileges regarding the memorial.

Queen Elizabeth’s gift was symbolic, not a legal cession of territory. But as symbols go, it’s a strong one. The dedication was attended not just by JFK’s widow Jackie, their children Caroline and John Jr., and John Sr.’s brothers Robert and Ted, but also by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, who accepted the (symbolic) deed on behalf of Lyndon B. Johnson, JFK’s successor as president. The gift thus underscored the vaunted “special relationship” between the U.S. and Britain.

But there are no U.S. Marines guarding the perimeter, you don’t need a visa to enter, and anyone born inside the acre does not automatically become an American citizen. As questionable as it is, the Memorial’s status as “American soil” in the middle of England does provide the site dedicated to JFK’s enduring legacy with an added layer of romance. So if you want to think that you can visit the U.S. deep inside Surrey, that most English of counties, who are we to disabuse you of that notion?

A medieval king sits at a table signing a document, surrounded by nobles and clerics in armor and robes inside an open tent. — King John reluctantly sealing the Magna Carta at Runnymede on 15 June 1215. The charter reined in his arbitrary abuse of feudal rights and laid the foundation for a Rrules-based system of government. (Credit: Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images).

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