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

Alan Brace

Alan Brace

Architect active 1927 and 1937. An Alan Brace was the architect for Rio Tinto Company Limited and carried out work for them in south west Spain, though if this was in the late 1800s, then he was ei...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
The Red House

The Red House

Located in Bexleyheath, it was co-designed by Philip Webb and William Morris, to serve as a family home for the latter. Morris's passions for medieval-inspired neo-gothic styles are reflected throu...

Place, Architecture

1 memorial
Charles Fitzroy Doll

Charles Fitzroy Doll

From 1885 until at least 1908 he was the Bedford Estate surveyor. Specialised in designing hotels, such as Hotel Russell. Other London work includes: Imperial Hotel next to Hotel Russell (demolishe...

Person, Architecture

2 memorials
Basil Champneys

Basil Champneys

Architect. Born Whitechapel. Died at home at 42 Frognal Lane, Hampstead. Works include: Newnham College, Cambridge.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Sir Ernest George

Sir Ernest George

Architect. Born 9 Portland Place, now Bartholomew Street, SE1. His partnership with Harold Peto was extremely successful. They designed many of the houses in Harrington and Collingham Gardens inclu...

Person, Architecture

5 memorials

Previously viewed

World War 1

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

403 memorials
George Orwell

George Orwell

George Orwell was born in Bengal as Eric Arthur Blair, his father was a British colonial civil servant. Joined the Indian imperial police in Burma but left in 1927 and decided to become a writer. ...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, Seriously Famous, TV & Radio, Bengal, Burma, France, India, Spain

12 memorials