Gilwell Park 100
Celebrating the scouting legacy
A century of scouting spirit comes alive at Gilwell Park.
Back in 2019, the team at Ruddocks were thrilled to support a special series of projects to mark a century since the first Scout Camp at Gilwell Park – the international home of Scouting. Gilwell Park was donated to The Scout Association in 1919 and has since become the flagship location for training and Scout events across the world. And we were privileged to help The Scouts with their celebrations through several interconnected design, print and installation projects.
Bringing history to life through an interactive heritage hub.
Working within the modern, fresh and inspiring Gilwell Park 100 brand, our creative team was tasked with designing the elements for an interactive heritage hub.
We incorporated key facts about The Scout Association’s history into activity stations, including how to tie a friendship knot, a leaf identification game, and a scaled-down version of the Gilwell Oak (the iconic oak tree which sits at the heart of Gilwell Park).
We also produced the original for the World Scout Jamboree held in the USA. Visitors could pen their scouting memories and experiences on specially designed oak leaf-shaped sticky notes and add them to the trees to create a living memory board.
It’s been a great process seeing the designs become reality and we had such great comments about the displays. If you can impress 4,000 teenagers, then you are doing something right!
Reimagining the “Pigsty”: a night in scouting history.
Another essential part of this project was redesigning the existing Gilwell Heritage Trail, in line with the celebration branding and updating the trail map with a new significant stop on the trail: the ‘Pigsty’. Back in 1919, the first Scout group that arrived at Gilwell was tasked with clearing the grounds to make the area suitable for camping. But the weather took a turn for the worse and the Scouts all had to take refuge in a gardener’s shed, which was nicknamed the ‘Pigsty’! Given its historical significance, it was key for this to feature in the celebrations and the Heritage Trail.
Gilwell Park 100 brought to life through creative illustrations.
We aimed to engage visitors by recreating the experience of that night 100 years ago, under the Scouts Heritage brand, which focuses on the rich history of the movement and the Scouts as an empowering force for young people. We designed and installed an experiential space which included oversized, wall-mounted photo albums using original imagery and even motion-sensor detected thunderstorm sounds.
To really bring to life the experience, our creative team also created bespoke illustrations of the clothing and equipment the Scouts would have used a century ago.
