Site

We'd given up the original plaque as lost, and had never even seen the second one, until 2022 when Londonist reported on this arrangement of plaques and information panels.

The panels read as follows: 

Before 1750: Marshes
This 1746 map shows the site of Jubilee Gardens to the right of the river as low lying marshland.

1800s: Wharves & The Lion Brewery
This picture was published to mark the opening of the Lion Brewery on the South Bank in 1836. In the background is a ‘shot tower’, used to make cannonballs.

1911-1922: Building of County Hall
It took from 1911 until 1922 to build County Hall, including delays caused by World War I. This picture was taken in 1921. It was built to house the London County Council (LCC) and was the seat of London’s government until the Greater London Council (successor to the LCC) was abolished in 1986.

1951: The Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain in summer 1951 was a great national celebration whose most important site was the South Bank. 8.5 million visitors came to see exhibitions on history, landscape and science. Temporary structures covered what in now Jubilee Gardens – they were demolished in 1952.

The only permanent building was the Royal Festival Hall. The picture above shows the scale of the Festival, with the Dome of Discovery on the site of Jubilee Gardens and the Festival Hall above.

The futuristic Skylon, which became a symbol of the Festival and appeared to float above the ground. The base was nearly 15m in the air, and the overall height was 90m.

1977: The Silver Jubilee Gardens
The first Jubilee Gardens were opened by HM The Queen on 9 {sic} June 1977 during the celebrations of her Silver Jubilee.
Jubilee Gardens provided the venue for frequent events and entertainment, including the start of the London Marathon.
The 1977 Gardens were badly damaged in the late 1990s when they were used as a construction site for the Jubilee Line. Limited refurbishment in 2004 produced a flat and featureless space.