London SE1 > News & Features > April 1999

The Dome was here first!

A fascinating photograph of the 'original dome' in SE1 can seen at the Bomb to Beatles exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. The Dome of Discovery, which stood on the South Bank during the 1951 Festival of Britain, was photographed by author David Franklin who now lives a short walk away. This is just one of his photographs which the museum has borrowed for the major peacetime exhibition.

David Franklin's carefully reseached novel Shoot the Model, set in both the war and present day SE1, is available from the museum shop. The Dome of Discovery stood on the site of the Jubilee Gardens.