Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace was one of the wonders of, if not the world, certainly Great Britain. It stood from 1854 until 1936, and attracted many thousands of visitors from all levels of society.

Waterhouse Hawkins's Iguanodon statues

Among the attractions were the dinosaurs, life-size models designed and made by Waterhouse Hawkins[?], situated by the Lower lakes, near the Anerley[?] entrance. These are still there today, although we now know that they are anatomically inaccurate. A dinner party for 22 was held by Hawkins inside one of the Iguanodon statues. This part of the Crystal Palace park has recently been closed to the public while the Victorian statues have been subjected to renovation work. They were officially re-opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2002, but the area is still closed off at the present time in order to allow the new trees to grow.

Among the exhibits were just about every marvel of the Victorian Age, encompassing the products of many countries thoughout the world. There was pottery and porcelain; ironwork and furniture; steam hammers and hydraulic presses; perfumes and pianos; houses and diving suits; firearms and barometers; fabrics and fireworks -- and much more.

Queen Victoria loved the place and said she found it 'enchanting'. This was to some extent due to the degree of esteem in which she held the ultimate architect of its fortunes, her beloved husband, Prince Albert.

The fortunes of the Crystal Palace began to decline when the place ran down and money was not available for maintenance. This was to a large extent due to the failure to obtain sufficient money by way of admission fees, in turn due to the inability to cater for a large portion of the population. The mass of people who would gladly visit the Palace were unable to do so because the only day on which they could get away from work was Sunday, and Sunday was the day on which the Palace was firmly closed. No amount of protest had any effect: the Lord's Day Observance Society (as today) held that people should not be encouraged to work at the Palace or drive transport on the Sabbath, and that if people wanted to visit, then their employers should give them time off during the working week. This, naturally, they would not do.

There was a Festival of Empire[?] in 1911, to mark the coronation of George V and Queen Mary, but things went from bad to worse, and two years later the Duke of Plymouth[?] purchased the Palace for the nation to save it from developers.

Then came the Great War, when it was used as a naval barracks[?] under the name of HMS Victory VI. At the cessation of hostilities it was re-opened as the first Imperial War Museum. Sir Henry Buckland[?] took over as General Manager, and things began to look up, many former attractions being resumed, including the Thursday evening displays of fireworks by Brocks[?].

But in November, 1936 came the final tragedy. Within hours, fire consumed all that had stood for a mighty empire and boundless imagination. The Palace was destroyed, the fire was seen for miles and hundreds of people saw the night sky light up due to the flames. Just as in 1866 when a fire burnt down the north transept, the building was not insured for enough to be rebuilt. Some said that it should never be rebuilt, as it was a symbol of a past age of outdated values.

Winston Churchill on his way home from the House of Commons said: "This is the end of an age".

The South Tower was used for tests by Logie Baird for his television.

All that was left standing were the two water towers, and these were taken down during World War II. The reason given was that the Germans could use them to navigate their way to London, but the same could have been said about St Paul's Cathedral. The north one was dynamited, the south one was taken down brick by brick owing to the proximity of other buildings.

The Crystal Palace Foundation[?] was created in 1979 to keep alive the memory and respect for this epic age in Britain's history.

Discussion regarding its future continues, various plans (which some people have called hideous) have been put forward but none have been put into action on the Top Site.

Nearby is the home of Crystal Palace Football Club[?], Selhurst Park[?].

Crystal Palace/Images