Building    From 1854  To 30/11/1936

Crystal Palace

Originally erected in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. It was on the section south of Rotten Row and east of West Carriage Drive with the mid-point opposite Rutland Gate. The cast-iron and glass building was then taken down and reconstructed, modified and enlarged, in 1854 at Sydenham Hill in what was then known as Penge Park. The area around then became known as Crystal Palace. In 1936 the Palace burnt down and was not rebuilt. What remains are the terraces, the steps and some sphinxes. The BBC reported that the UK's first fatal car accident happened at "Dolphin Terrace" at the Crystal Palace in 1896 but we can't discover exactly where that was.

The distinctive curved roof above the central transept, running north-south, was added to the design of the building to enable several elm trees in Hyde Park to be retained within the building rather than felled. The trees are not there now and were presumably lost to Dutch Elm disease some time 1970-90. (But London does still have elm trees - see the Londonist article and this pdf with map.)

Some good pictures and quotes at: The Library Time Machine.

Caroline's Miscellany on the model of Crystal Palace - in Paris.

Chapter IX of Dorothy Richardson's 1915 'Pilgrimage Volume 1, Backwater' describes a summer evening visit to Crystal Palace with fireworks, a calendar-clock, a winter garden, a concert room, etc.

2025: Londonist's post What's Left From the 1851 Great Exhibition? provides many answers, including the fact that the V&A holds 3,595 items, the museum having been created partly for that very purpose.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Crystal Palace

Commemorated ati

Crystal Palace fatal accident

{Around an illustration of the Crystal Palace:} The grave beneath this yew tr...

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Crystal Palace workmen's grave

Twelve workmen were killed, but we are unable to find out where the other two...

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HMS Crystal Palace

This trophy was originally placed on the old quarter-deck (presumably constru...

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Sir Joseph Paxton - giant bust

The Carrera marble bust is 8ft high.

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Other Subjects

Thomas Cundy

Thomas Cundy

Architect. He could be either Thomas Cundy, senior (1765-1825), or his son; as their careers were closely intertwined. The identity of the portrait on the right is similarly doubtful. Cundy senior ...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Richard Norman Shaw

Richard Norman Shaw

Architect. Born Edinburgh. Pioneer of Old English and Queen Anne styles. His London works include: 1-2 St James Street, Grim's Dyke, the Royal Geographic Society, 17 Chelsea Embankment, Bedford Par...

Person, Architecture, Scotland

5 memorials
George Robert Welby Wheeler, AMICE

George Robert Welby Wheeler, AMICE

George Robert Welby Wheeler was born on 20 November 1845 in Bermondsey, Surrey (now Greater London), the eldest of the six children of George Charles Wheeler (1820-1886) and Charlotte Wheeler née W...

Person, Architecture, Engineering, Liveries & Guilds

1 memorial
Lionel Pearson

Lionel Pearson

Architect.  Worked in partnership with Holden.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Kingerlee and Sons

Kingerlee and Sons

Builders. An unusual name, so we are assuming that this is the company founded by Thomas Henry Kingerlee, a plumber from Banbury. He moved to Oxford where he established a thriving business, undert...

Group, Architecture, Commerce

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Emanuel Swedenborg

Emanuel Swedenborg

Swedish theologian and polymath.  He travelled frequently in Europe and came to London a few times.  Lodged in Wellclose Square and attended the nearby Swedish Church.  On his last visit, in 1771, ...

Person, Religion, Sweden

1 memorial
James Telfer

James Telfer

Treasurer of St Luke's School in 1870 and had a new wing named after him in 1887.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Evelyn Underhill

Evelyn Underhill

W8, Campden Hill Square, 50

Evelyn Underhill, 1875 - 1941, Christian philosopher and teacher, lived here, 1907 - 1939. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
F. Brook Hitch

F. Brook Hitch

Born London. Lived in Hertford. RBS. Our colleague Andrew Behan has researched this man, and found him at Mapping Sculpture, where the date of birth is given as 1877 which conflicts with Wikipedia...

Person, Sculpture

2 memorials
Oliver Tambo

Oliver Tambo

Born Mbizana, in what is now Eastern Cape. President of the African National Congress. Fled to the UK from South Africa in 1960 to run the ANC abroad. Returned to South Africa after the collapse o...

Person, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, South Africa

1 memorial