Beacon Lit to Celebrate Platinum Jubilee
2 June 2022
Government
On Thursday 02 June, a beacon was lit in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. There is a long and unbroken tradition of lighting beacons to celebrate Royal Jubilees, Royal Weddings and Coronations, and so beacons across the UK and the Commonwealth were lit in unison to mark the Jubilee.
Whilst these are traditionally lit at the top of the highest peaks in each of the UK home nations, they are also lit atop churches, cathedral towers, castle battlements and cliff tops. In Ascension, these are traditionally lit at Jubilee Point on Cross Hill.
In 1897 beacons were lit to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and in 1977, 2002 and 2012 beacons were lit to commemorate the Queen’s Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees, before again being lit in 2016 to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday.
The Ascension Jubilee beacon was crafted on the island by David Lawrence.
The beacon lighting is part of a wider series of events taking place throughout the territory, including the planting of trees on Green Mountain as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, a Jubilee float parade and a Jubilee Street Party in Georgetown.
