A LONDON WONDER

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 132, 1 December 1936, Page 10

A LONDON WONDER

SHOWPLACE FOR 80 YEARS

The Crystal Palace standing high up in grounds just outside the southern boundary of London in the neighbourhood of Sydenham, was opened on this site in 1854. The materials, however, were mainly those of the hall set up in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. which was conceived by the Prince Consort and which revealed the Industrie wealth of England. The designer -v/as Sir Joseph Paxton. The m-ecise site was two miles to the south of Dulwich and eight miles south-east of Charing Cross. The Palace comprised a spacious central hall or nave 1608 feet long, with lateral sections, two aisles and two transepts. A third transept at the northern end, which formed a palmhouse of imposing dimensions, was burned down in 1866. The central transept was 390 ft long, 120 ft broad, and 175 ft high. There were two watertowers at the ends 282 ft high. The cost of the whole building, including the magnificent garden and grounds, and much additional land outside, was £1500 000. After the 1851 Exhibition the' materials were sold to a company for £70,000, the company finally issuing shares to the value of £1,000,000. The palace itself, an interesting example of glass and iron construction, had an imposing and tastefully arranged interior, and casts of notable works of architecture and sculpture. Within the palace were various side-shows and entertainments and in the gardens open-air gymnasia, a switch-back railway, a "topsy-turvy" railway, a maze and water carnival pond, etc. GREAT VARIETY OF SHOWS. All sorts of shows were held in the great glassed palace, some of them more or less permanent, such as displays of works of art and antiques. It was a favoured place for band contests and other large musical events, and oratorios were sung there by choirs consisting of thousands of voices. In the early days of the cinema, some notable shows were given; even as early as 1901 moving pictures (which moved not only in the correct but in irregular ways as well) were shown in very beautiful colouring. Among the special attractions at the Palace were the big fireworks displays produced by the famous firm of Brock's. ■ The most gorgeous of these were the annual special shows known as "Brock's Benefit." These were preceded by a dinner, and invitations were issued to large numbers of distinguished people. Trains were run from various parts of London, right into the building. ' The grounds were beautifully laid out with gai-dens, ponds, and fountains, and in odd corners there were "antediluvian" monsters of impressive and "lifelike" appearance. The park and grounds measure about 200 acres. Cricket and football matches were played there, including the final tie of the Association Football Cup. SOME FIGURES. The Palace at first was not a financial success. The fire of December, 1866, did damage to the extent of £150,000, and, though the company carried on, in 1887 it was declared insolvent, the total expenditure to that date having been £3,000,000, and the total of visitors 50,000,000. The first ' column, during the construction work, was raised in August, 1852, and in the progress of the construction as, many as 6400 men were engaged at one time. In 1853 a fall of scaffolding killed twelve men. In June, 1854, the Palace was opened by Queen Victoria and a few months later there was a great fete there in aid of patriotic funds. The preliminary Handel Festivals were held there in 1858. The structure is linked with many famous names in the world of music and entertainment. The Schiller Festival was held there in 1859, and the Mendelssohn in the following year: Blondin walked the tightrope there in 1861; there was an aeronautical exhibition in 1868. The reception to de Lesseps, of Suez Canal fame, took place there, and the first pony show held in England took place in the Palace in 1899. There have been other disasters to the building, a great gale having done damage to the north wing in 1861 and the bursting of a water-tank in 1880 doing great injury, though no lives were lost. ALEXANDRA PALACE. The Crystal Palace was used in the cause of modern science when the Baird Television Company erected an

experimental television transmitter on it: this has been destroyed by the fire. It should not be confused with the 8.8.C.'s bigger plant, which is at the Alexandra Palace. The Alexandra Palace was built in the north of London partly as a rival to the Crystal Palace, and partly to provide facilities for entertainment for people in that part of the metropolis, but soon after it was built it too was burnt. It was rebuilt, but was never a financial success. Spencers, the great! balloon family, frequently gave aerot nautical displays there, and tone of the family went up in a dirigible of his own design and manufacture, in emulation of the French airship pioneer j Santos Dumont. j