Event    From /5/1951  To /9/1951

Festival of Britain

'A tonic for the Nation', The Festival was intended to cheer us all up after WW2, and incidentally to celebrate the centenary of the 1851 Great Exhibition. The symbol for the Festival was designed by Abram Games.

All the Festival buildings on the south bank except the Royal Festival Hall have since been demolished and replaced by other buildings forming the much-loved (British irony) arts complex known as The South Bank. The Festival of Britain was a nationwide event with two other sites in London: the Pleasure Gardens in Battersea and the Live Architecture Exhibition in Poplar, originally 'Neighbourhood 9' but then renamed the 'Lansbury Estate', after George Lansbury. Diamond GeezerCaroline's Miscellany and A London Inheritance have all done good posts about this Estate. The City of London laid out a garden beside St Paul's, Festival Gardens.

The Festival Pleasure Gardens were installed in the northern part of Battersea Park. These included a water-garden and a tree-walk. There was also a fun fair on the section between Central Avenue and what is now the children's zoo. The BBC has photos of many of the items.

2019: Ian Visits spotted a Festival of Britain bench in an Essex village.

2019: In the 1957 film 'The Key Man' / 'Life at Stake' (not be be confused with the 1955 film with the same two titles), at about 57 mins, two characters meet in the Thameside Restaurant under Waterloo Bridge, left over from the Festival. This nice piece of modernist architecture remained until 1962.

2023: An email from 'Londonist: Time Machine' reminded us that the recreation of Sherlock Holmes’s study, now to be found upstairs at The Sherlock Holmes pub near Charing Cross, was created for the Festival of Britain. The catalogue of the "Exhibition on Sherlock Holmes" states that it was held at "Abbey House, Baker Street, London NW1, May - September 1951". Often described as Holmes's study, the recreated room is described in the catalogue as his living room.

2025: Ian Visits reported that the escalator at Alperton Station had been taken from the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain.  It had fallen out of use in 1988, was subsequently decommissioned and is now set to be replaced with a lift.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Festival of Britain

Commemorated ati

Dome of Discovery

{The plaque is laid flat on the ground.} This commemorative plaque was set i...

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Festival of Britain - Arts

The relief shows the Royal Festival Hall, surrounded by a violin, saxophone, ...

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Festival of Britain - Churchill Gardens

See a similar plaque in N7 for information about them.

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Festival of Britain - London Pride

London Pride. Frank Dobson CBE, RA. 1886 - 1963. Commissioned for The Festi...

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Festival of Britain - N16

Festival of Britain, 1951, Award for Merit.

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Show all 20

Other Subjects

Margaret MacDonald

Margaret MacDonald

Born Tipton, Staffordshire. Artist, one of the chief exponents of the ‘Glasgow Style’ of art. Married to Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The picture shows her seated in front of one of her works. Died 3...

Person, Art, Scotland

1 memorial
Eric Gill

Eric Gill

Sculptor. Born Brighton. One of thirteen children of a clergyman, he remained religious all his life. Passionate believer in the "carving direct" method. His sculptures would sometimes depict contr...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Sculpture

4 memorials
Sir Luke Fildes

Sir Luke Fildes

Illustrator and portrait painter. Born Samuel Luke Fildes at 22 Standish Street, Liverpool. He became known as a woodcut designer for magazines such as 'The Graphic', the first issue of which inclu...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Stephen Bird

Stephen Bird

Artist/designer/craft-person.  Born Stoke-on-Trent.  Initially we could find no information about "S. Bird" but Andrew Behan was more successful so we have him to thank for this page.

Person, Art, Craft / Design

3 memorials
Winifred Turner

Winifred Turner

Sculptor. Born London, daughter of Alfred. From our Picture source, Sotherbys: "With her head turned and her legs elegantly crossed, Thought is carefully balanced in taut and balletic pose. ... Win...

Person, Art

2 memorials