The façade of the original Crystal Palace
Side view of the Crystal Palace
A huge iron and glass building, The Crystal Palace was a building in 19th
Century Britain. A rebuilt and expanded version of the building that
originally housed the Great Exhibition of 1851, it stood in Upper
Norwood from 1854 until 1936, and attracted many thousands of visitors
from all levels of society. The name "Crystal Palace" was coined by the
satirical magazine Punch.
The name was later adopted by Crystal Palace Football Club and generally
to denote that area of south London.
Original Hyde Park building
The huge glass and iron structure at the top of Sydenham Hill was
originally erected in Hyde Park in London to house The Great Exhibition,
embodying the products of many countries throughout the world.
"On unbent leaf in fairy guise,
Reflected in the water,
Beloved, admired by hearts and eyes,
Stands Annie, Paxton's daughter..."
Seen in its grand magnificence, the new Crystal Palace again displayed the
genius of its creator, Joseph Paxton, who was knighted in recognition of
his work. Paxton had been head gardener at Chatsworth, in Derbyshire,
where he had befriended its owner, the Duke of Devonshire. Here he had
experimented with glass and iron in the creation of large greenhouses,
and had seen something of their strength and durability. He applied this
knowledge to the plans for the Great Exhibition building — with
astounding results. Planners had been looking for strength, durability,
simplicity of construction and speed — and this they got from Paxton's
ideas. According to the 2004 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Paxton was
partly inspired by the organic structure of the Amazonian lily Victoria
regia, which he successfully cultivated".
The Crystal Palace was built by about 5,000 navvies who worked very hard
for very little and completed their tasks quickly. Their welfare became
the concern of Catherine Marsh, who noticed the poor conditions they
were working in and treatment they received: she spared no effort to see
that they received fair and just treatment. She made sure that meals
were provided for them.
The 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of glass was provided by the Chance
Brothers glassworks in Smethwick, Birmingham. They were the only
glassworks capable of fulfilling such a large order, and had to bring in
labour from France to meet it in time.
Relocation
Relocation commemorative medallion
The life of the Great Exhibition was limited to six months, and something
then had to be done with the building. Against the wishes of
Parliamentary opponents of anything to do with the scheme, the edifice
was re-erected on a property named Penge Place which had been excised
from Penge Common atop Sydenham Hill. It was much modified and enlarged,
and within two years Queen Victoria again performed an opening ceremony.
Two railway stations were opened to serve the permanent exhibition. The
Low Level Station is still in use today as Crystal Palace railway
station, and part of the High Level Station, a subway which gave access
to the Parade area, can also still be seen with its Italian mosaic
roofing. This subway is also a Grade II listed building[citation
needed].
There is an apocryphal story, popular amongst local schoolchildren, that
the Crystal Palace High Level Station was closed because a commuter
train was trapped by a tunnel collapse and remains there to this day. In
reality the closure was a scheduled part of the decline of the railway
network in the 1950s.
Water features
Joseph Paxton was first and foremost a gardener, and his layout of
gardens, fountains, terraces and cascades left no doubt as to his
ability. One thing he did have a problem with was water supply. Such was
his enthusiasm that thousands of gallons of water were needed in order
to feed the myriad fountains and cascades which abounded in the Crystal
Palace park. The two main jets were 250 feet (76 m) high.
Initially water towers were constructed, but the weight of water in the
raised tanks caused them to collapse. And so Isambard Kingdom Brunel was
consulted and came up with the plans for two mighty water towers, one at
the north and the other at the south end of the building. Each supported
a tremendous load of water which was gathered from three reservoirs at
either end of and the middle of the park.
Two years later, the grand fountains and cascades were opened, again in
the presence of the Queen — who got wet when a gust of wind swept mists
of spray over the Royal carriage.
Attractions
Waterhouse Hawkins's Iguanodon statues
A Megalosaurus stalks
An Icthyosaur swims with a group of Plesiosaurs
Among the attractions were the dinosaurs, life-size models designed and
made by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, situated by the Lower lakes, near
the Anerley entrance. These are still there today, although it is now
known that they are anatomically inaccurate. A dinner party for 22 was
held by Hawkins inside one of the Iguanodon statues. The Victorian
statues were renovated in a £4,000,000 project. They were officially
unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2002.
The exhibits included just about every marvel of the Victorian Age,
encompassing the products of many countries throughout 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 including
a walking stick containing an enema!
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.
Most FA Cup finals in the early years of the competition were held in the
Crystal Palace Park. The last to be held there was in 1914 when George V
became the first reigning monarch to watch the final. Even before the
creation of the Crystal Palace F.C., a team bearing the name Crystal
Palace played in the competition. Players came from the staff of the
Crystal Palace.
Decline
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 Sunday, 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 1st Earl of Plymouth purchased the Palace for the nation to save it
from developers.
In the Great War it was used as a naval training establishment under the
name of HMS Victory VI, informally known as HMS Crystal Palace.[1] 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.
Destruction by fire
On 30 November 1936 came the final catastrophe. 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
thousands of people saw the night sky light up by the flames. Just as in
1866 when a fire burnt down the north transept, the building was not
adequately insured to cover the cost of rebuilding.
Winston Churchill on his way home from the House of Commons said: "This is
the end of an age".
The South Tower had been used for tests by television pioneer John Logie
Baird for his mechanical television experiments. Unfortunately for him,
much of his work was destroyed in the fire.
In memoriam
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. The north one was dynamited,
while the south one was taken down brick by brick as it was very close
to other buildings. After the war, the site was used for a number of
purposes. Between 1953 and 1973 a motor car racing circuit operated on
the site with some race meetings supported by the Greater London
Council.
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 have been put forward but none have
been put into action on the Top Site.
The park which surrounds the site is now home to Crystal Palace National
Sports Centre.
The design of the Crystal Palace has inspired many latter-day construction
projects, such as the Dallas, Texas-based Infomart[citation needed].
Crystal Palace in popular culture
The Crystal Palace made a strong impression on the visitors coming from
all over Europe, including a number of writers. It soon became a symbol
of modernity and civilization, hailed by some and decried by others.
French author Valéry Larbaud left a short text describing his impressions
of the Crystal Palace.
In What is to do be done ?, Russian author and philosopher Nikolai
Chernyshevsky pledges to transform the society into a Crystal Palace
thanks to a socialist revolution.
Fyodor Dostoevsky implicitly replied to Chernyshevsky in Notes from
Underground. The narrator thinks that human nature will prefer
destruction and chaos to the harmony symbolized by the Crystal Palace.
The Palace (or a similar structure) was seen in the 2004 anime film Steam
Boy, and it was also featured in the 2005 anime series Eikoku Koi
Monogatari Emma.
The Crystal Palace serves as the location in the finale of the fantasy
book Ptolemy's Gate.
Italian writer Alessandro Baricco incorporated the Crystal Palace into his
novel Land of glass using a mixture of fiction and facts.
German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk uses the Crystal Palace as a metaphor
for the European project.
The distinctive skyscraper at 30 St Mary Axe, London, picked up the
nickname of The Crystal Phallus due to its shape, and as a play on the
name Crystal Palace.
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