About the Gardens Archives - Jubilee Gardens Trust

1 May 20261 May 2026

75 Years On: Jubilee Gardens and the Festival of Britain

On 1 May 1951 the Festival of Britain opened to the public – a bold, hopeful moment for a country rebuilding after the Second World War. Today, as we mark its 75th anniversary, it’s worth remembering that Jubilee Gardens stood right at the heart of that story.

Credit: All images – Southbank Centre Archives

This much-loved green space was once home to the Festival’s most iconic structure: the vast Dome of Discovery, and was overshadowed by the striking Skylon, which seemed to float above the South Bank skyline. Together they symbolised innovation and a belief in a brighter future. Millions of people came here to experience new ideas in science, design and culture – encountering a transformed London after the bombing and deprivations of WWII.

But there’s a challenge at the heart of this story. Unlike the nearby Royal Festival Hall, which still stands today, the Dome and Skylon were dismantled soon after the Festival closed. Almost nothing physical remains. What was once a centrepiece of national optimism has largely disappeared from view.

That’s what makes Jubilee Gardens so special. The current lawns and trees hide a layered history that reflect London’s ever-changing, richly woven story of constant reinvention. This site has evolved from marshland and working wharves to the post-war Festival of Britain, a short-lived air terminal, decades as a GLC car park, and later open parkland that became a space for public gathering and protest, before becoming the much-loved Gardens we enjoy today. Yet without visible reminders, it’s easy for this fascinating past to be forgotten.

This anniversary is a chance to look again. As you sit, play or pass through the Gardens, you are standing on the very ground where one of Britain’s most ambitious cultural moments unfolded. It’s a story of reinvention, imagination and resilience – and it’s still part of the landscape, even if you have to look a little closer to see it. A place where each new season brings fresh growth, and where the spirit of regeneration that shaped the South Bank continues to unfold.

Over the coming months, Jubilee Gardens Trust is hoping to share more of this history, helping bring these hidden stories back into view for everyone.

15 July 202512 December 2025

Jubilee Gardens achieves Green Flag Award for fifth year running

Jubilee Gardens celebrates Green Flag Award 2025 win

Jubilee Gardens on London’s South Bank has once again been recognised as one of the country’s best parks, after receiving the coveted Green Flag Award for the fifth year in a row.

The international quality mark for parks and green spaces celebrates the very best public spaces in the UK and around the world. This recognition reflects the continued hard work and dedication of everyone involved in caring for Jubilee Gardens – from the Jubilee Gardens Trust, the local charity responsible for the site, to the management and maintenance teams who keep it looking its best every day.

Paul Todd MBE, Green Flag Award Scheme Manager, said:

“Congratulations to everyone involved in Jubilee Gardens who have worked tirelessly to ensure that it achieves the high standards required for the Green Flag Award.

“Quality parks and green spaces like Jubilee Gardens make the country a healthier place to live and work, and a stronger place to invest.

“Crucially, Jubilee Gardens is a vital green space for communities on London’s South Bank to enjoy nature, and during the ongoing cost of living crisis it remains a free and safe place for families to socialise – offering real physical and mental health benefits.”

The Green Flag Award scheme, managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark for quality across the UK and internationally.

Jubilee Gardens Trust is proud to receive this accolade for the fifth consecutive year – a reflection of the ongoing commitment to keep this much-loved green space beautiful, safe and welcoming for all.

A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available here. Find out about the history of Jubilee Gardens and the Jubilee Gardens Trust which manages the space on London’s South Bank.

19 December 2020

Bumper acorn crop – is 2020 a ‘mast year’?

You may have noticed a bumper crop of acorns and beech nuts in Jubilee Gardens and other parks this year, keeping the squirrels, mice and other critters happy and well-fed. It looks likely that 2020 will be declared a ‘mast year’ – one in which there is a much heavier crop of fruits and seeds such as acorns, conkers, berries or pinecones, from certain tree species than in a normal year.

Close-up of acorns and English Oak leaf - abundance in a mast year

The reasons for this aren’t fully understood, but Andrew Smith, Director of Westonbirt, The National Arboretum told Forestry England¹:

“We experienced a warm and dry spring, which are the perfect conditions for flowers to ‘set’ seeds. This, along with no late frost meant that flowers and young fruit survived into summer. The warm and moist summer has meant the nuts, fruits and berries have filled out well and are continuing to ripen nicely.”

Weather and climate do have an impact, but mast years tend to occur in cycles – for Oak trees this is usually every four years according to Smith. There is a major evolutionary advantage to mast years for the tree; producing nuts and seeds requires a lot of energy and as a result slightly stunts the tree’s growth, however, with such an abundance of seeds there is an increased likelihood that at least some of the crop will germinate into new saplings.

Another theory about the reason for mast years, according to the Woodland Trust² is ‘predator satiation’:

“Animals like squirrels, jays, mice and badgers feed on the acorns and beech nuts. When the trees produce smaller crops for a few consecutive years, they are in effect keeping the populations of these animals in check. But during a mast year, the trees produce more food than the animals can possibly eat. This abundance causes a boom in populations of small mammals like mice. More importantly, it guarantees some will be left over to survive and grow into new trees.”

Mast years are not just one-off events for individual trees. The vast majority of trees in a particular species will have a fantastic crop all across the UK in the same year. How the trees co-ordinate this when they’re so far apart is one of nature’s many mysteries.

Find out more about the different tree species in Jubilee Gardens here.

¹https://www.forestryengland.uk/news/its-been-bumper-year-fruits-and-nuts-say-forestry-england-experts

²https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/10/what-is-a-mast-year/