Festival of Britain gardening appeal

The RHS Lindley Library is appealing for memories of gardening during the 1951 Festival of Britain

2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Festival of Britain – a landmark moment in British art and design. While its architectural icons like the Royal Festival Hall and Skylon are especially well remembered, the festival also featured a vibrant horticultural programme. The RHS Lindley Library is appealing for photographs, postcards, leaflets and memories that tell the story of the gardeners nationwide who took part in this historic celebration.

Gardens by the Festival’s Regatta Restaurant, South Bank, London. RIBA Collections

Gardens at the heart of the Festival of Britain

More than eight million visitors explored the landscaped spaces on London’s South Bank and Battersea Park during the five months of the festival. The South Bank gardens were designed to complement modernist architecture. A moat garden planted with water lilies, curved beds of shrubs and herbaceous plants, and formal lawns around the Royal Pavilion showcased how horticulture could transform public spaces. These designs influenced the green planning of new towns such as Basildon and Stevenage. 
The Guinness Clock in the Festival Pleasure Gardens, Battersea. Courtesy of Judge Sampson Ltd / RHS Lindley Collections

Battersea Park: Festival pleasure gardens in bloom

Further along the Thames, Battersea Park hosted the Festival Pleasure Gardens – inspired by Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens and Vauxhall’s 18th-century pleasure grounds. Garden designer Russell Page returned from Europe to lead the project, sourcing tens of thousands of plants with the help of E. R. Janes of Suttons Seeds. 

Page’s vision was bold and joyful: sweeping drifts of colour, twenty thousand yellow tulips from Holland, and raised beds of crimson and pink roses. His planting philosophy, described in The Education of a Gardener, was to make flowers “sparkle, shimmer and seem to move” against the static architecture. The resulting garden proved to be a dazzling escape from post-war gloom, earning Page an OBE for his work. 
A show garden at the 1951 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. RHS Lindley Collections

A very special RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the Festival

The RHS took part in the festival garden committee and agreed to stage an expanded Chelsea Flower Show as part of the celebrations. The RHS pulled out all the stops to stage a spectacular exhibit – a vast Himalayan gorge featuring 23 lorry loads of rhododendrons, acers, enkianthus and other plants. A huge shelter was erected at Wisley to protect plants destined for the display from frosts. Dozens of plants were kept in cool storage in London as the show approached, to prevent them from flowering too early. Many of the rhododendrons featured can still be seen growing on RHS Garden Wisley’s Battleston Hill today. 
A walled garden in Canterbury created for the Festival of Britain. Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections

Nationwide gardening celebrations

Beyond London, towns and villages embraced the festival spirit with vibrant horticultural displays and events. Despite rationing and bomb damage, many communities expressed their creativity through plants, brightening parks, front gardens, window boxes and even waste ground with new planting. Seed merchants promoted “Festival Flowers”. In total, 1,600 towns and cities enhanced public spaces. Sheffield opened new gardens and playgrounds, while bombed sites near St Paul’s Cathedral became the City of London’s Festival Gardens, creating a lasting legacy of renewal. Events ranged from traditional horticultural shows to quirky parades including a procession of flower-festooned bikes through Haringey. 

Help us tell the story

Do you have photographs, postcards, leaflets or memories of the Festival of Britain’s horticultural side? The RHS Libraries team would love to hear from you.

The festival gardens at Battersea and the South Bank are already well documented, but we would be particularly interested to see any photos you have of the more ephemeral, local horticultural elements of the festival, including:

  • Displays created in private gardens to celebrate the festival – hanging baskets, front garden plantings, kerbside displays, etc.
  • Public spaces such as parks and festival gardens created in your local area, in or around 1951
  • Local Festival of Britain celebrations with a horticultural element, for example horticultural competitions, floral displays or floats incorporating flowers

To get in contact, email the RHS Libraries team at [email protected]

Email the RHS Libraries team 

Explore more from RHS Libraries

RHS Libraries newsletter

Keep up to date with the latest news from RHS Libraries by signing up to our e-newsletter.

Sign up now

Get involved

The RHS is the UK’s gardening charity, helping people and plants to grow - nurturing a healthier, happier world, one person and one plant at a time.